Pick Your Poison
by Tiny-Breegull
Summary: You hated the term 'escort', even if it did describe the line of work you were in. It wasn't your favourite, but it gave you a chance to experience some interesting, and sometimes incredible, adventures. When a lone request takes you out of your bubble of 'the daily grind', you find yourself catapulted into a new lifestyle, and into the arms of someone you never expected.
1. Chapter 1

'_Escort_' was such an outdated word. At least, it was in your book. If you had things your way, you would have the word universally updated to something that was a little less on the nose. Something like '_attendee_'. You felt that this would substantially increase the type of clientele that would scout you for your skills and business; something a little less shady and crass. Still, even as the Gourmet Age changed and developed the world into something vastly different than the era before it, it would appear that some things never changed.

Natural, primitive things.

Human urges.

A customer's needs didn't necessarily have to be anything overtly sexual for you to consider their patronage; in fact, you were completely up for it as long as clients followed the rules. These types of requests paid a lot more than just the run-of-the-mill girlfriend experience that you offered as your basic package, so you felt it silly to limit yourself to the possibility of getting a hefty paycheque at the end of the transaction.

Still, you couldn't help but feel just that little bit more empathetic to your customers that ultimately searched for some sort of companionship, above everything else. Sometimes, even the most desperate pleas for company made your heart ache for them, but you had your number one rule of never getting involved with a client. Never. No matter the kind of person they might be. Getting attached would just lead to trouble down the line. So, you made a conscious effort to never let yourself get too close, too involved, too _committed _to a client.

That is, you had never expected this particular customer.

It began like any normal day; rolling out of bed at a fairly leisurely pace with a stretching yawn. It was just another day for you, and although the chatter of the street below drifted into your window from the gaggle of pedestrians, you were used to it. It was kind of nice hearing the world around you, knowing that one of the wandering pedestrians below your apartment could be your next meal ticket. Everyone had a story to tell, and some would even include you in them.

With a brief shower and quick bite to eat, you settled in front of your computer to see if you had any offers of business sitting in your inbox. While you didn't exactly boast about your choice of work, you weren't struggling for your next work day. You had all the right means of communication – a professional webpage enlisting your more _appropriate_ services on a public face and that served to work just fine in your opinion.

While almost all of your enquiries were sent to you via electronic means, you had even put in a physical postal address as well as a way for potential customers to contact you for your services. You had done this on a whim with the mindset that it would never be used, but at least the option was there. Pulling your (h/c) into a high ponytail, you flicked through the several emails of interest asking for quotes on you're a myriad of services. What you didn't expect, however, was your postman to drop off your physical mail at the same time, along with a notice that your post box also had something in it. This struck you as incredibly odd as the _only_ reason you owned that post box was for this very business.

You couldn't deny, your interest was piqued and a smile tugged at your lips.

You _had_ to find out who this was.

Before you knew it, you had thrown on a quick but comfortable outfit and almost flew down the stairs, out the door and down the street towards your post box. In your daze, you almost collided with a stranger but managed to stop yourself just in time before knocking the poor man over.

'Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!' you apologised with a heavy breath. 'Please forgive me!'

'Oh no, it's okay!' the small man said, a big smile growing on his face. 'It usually happens to me so it's not a big deal.'

You gave a sigh of relief, but still bowed in apology. 'Still, I'm just caught up in my own world and I wasn't paying attention to where I was headed. I hope you have a good day!'

Your feet started you off before your brain had connected, leaving the stranger in his chef whites to wave at you with a blank look before setting off on his own again. When you finally arrived at your post box, you skidded to a halt in front of it and wrested it open. Inside was a small cream envelope with your business name and address written in an emerald ink.

_Curiouser and curiouser_.

In a flash, you were back in your apartment and in front of your computer, staring at this envelope with such curiosity that it almost burned a hole into it. The writing itself was a mixture of delicate yet modest, and something inside you felt like ripping into this like you normally would feel…rude somehow.

Sliding a knife into the flap and peeling it open, you slipped out a neatly folded letter and picked it open gently. You were met with the same green ink and neat writing that prefaced you before.

_Dear "Sugar"_, (Sugar being your pseudonym for your business contact.)

_I don't normally contact these sorts of businesses, but yours was the first that offered a physical address that I could use._

_I am in need of some company, and I don't particularly know where to begin with my requests. At the very least, I need a female companion for an event coming up in my future. _

_I'm a fairly secluded individual; a personal choice of my own auspice but it means that I've not lent myself to knowing a lot of females on a personal level. My line of work also dictates a lot of… unwanted female attention on me which makes me feel highly uncomfortable pursuing any further means of relationships with them._

_I believe that you might be able to assist me with this. After all, this would only be for a one-time event. My apologies for this vague information contained within this letter, but if you would like to know more, please respond to the attached postal address at the conclusion of this letter. _

_I look forward to hearing from you._

_C_

Your (e/c) eyes scanned over the swift letters again and again trying to discern some sort of clue to who the mystery writer was. Your thoughts began to turn into wild ideas over the identity of the messenger. The only thing you could discern was that this person was a high-profile individual who regarded their privacy to the utmost extent, or that they were such a shy person that they feared being traced through their device. Either way, you couldn't stop the odd tingling buzzing through your fingertips with each second. You bit your lip and smiled more, as the light from your monitor lit up the emerald letters with a soft glow. So mysterious, but so intriguing at the same time.

How could you turn an opportunity like this down?

Ignoring your emails again, you pulled a small writing set from deep within your desk and opened it up for the very first time. You had bought it years ago with the intention of having some professional stationery to compliment your business when you had to send off any paperwork related to you, but since the world had adapted to a more electronic means, it sat in its dark corner slowly gathering dust.

At least now was the time you could use it.

Taking a deep purple pen in hand, you started penning your response.

_Dear C,_

_I'd be lying if I said your letter hadn't captured my attention the moment I received it. I'd have to say, you're the first person to reach out to me via this means, and I am interested in what you need me for. I just hope there's enough time for my reply to get to you in time before you need me. Perhaps contacting me through my email might be easier for us to communicate more effectively?_

_As you may be aware, I'm open to being an attendee to meet your concerns by any means necessary, and I have a satisfaction guarantee policy for _all _of my clientele. Before we can discuss pricing and get contracts signed, I have to first ask what you need my services for. As per my terms and conditions listed on my site, we can only successfully come to an agreement if both parties consent to all conditions expressed on both ends. Standard legal practice etc. _

_I'm more than excited at what sort of thing might be on my horizon, but I can't wait to hear your needs._

_Yours faithfully,_

_Sugar_

With a flourish, you signed the bottom of the letter with your looping scrawl of your stage name, the buzzing inside moving from your fingers to course through all of your body.As an afterthought, you added an addendum to your reply.

_Addendum: I also require at least one meeting in person with all clients to finalise all binding contracts._

You didn't. You just needed to satisfy your curiosity.

With that, you folded your letter and slipped it into your own envelope, addressing the front carefully with the listed address, as your business name _Pick Your Poison_ winked up at you with the final seal.

The moment you dropped that little envelope into the express mail chute, something inside you stirred up. An odd sense like you had just altered your future in the blink of any eye. Your stomach did an odd flip and you felt a fresh crop of goose bumps prickle over your skin, despite the warm sun pressing its heat into you on such a beautiful day. The adrenaline high still wound its way through your being, but you blamed it on a sugar rush from the chocolate pastries you ate just before.

Now it was just a waiting game.


	2. Chapter 2

On very rare occasions, a job that had been agreed to and signed for didn't always work out in your favour. Even though a customer would be professional and respectful through the entire scaffolding of contracts and other legalities, when the time came for you to honour your appointments, they would turn into a living nightmare and a handful of times you had to remove yourself out of harm's way. This happened to be the case with your most recent booking, and as you stumbled home with a light limp after literally kicking your way out to freedom, you started to wonder whether or not it was time to finally call it quits from this business.

Majority of your customers were Gourmet Hunters that fell into three categories; cocky greenhorns that were intent on bragging about their lifestyle with trophy eye-candy, a genuinely nice hunter that was just a little out of touch with their social skills, or hunters that had long retired years ago. It became a lot more obvious when you were strapped to the arm of an aging hunter that others knew _exactly_ what you were. You were used to the side-eyes and the upturned noses, but you were making a living out of it, and you weren't hurting anyone physically. Mostly just yourself. Most of them were very nice people that just wanted to share some company; why was it a bad thing to indulge them for a little bit?

You had thought that last night's booking was the genuine type, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. He fell into category one, and not only did he physically lead you around last night's dinner function with unnecessary force, he felt entitled to _"just a little more" _from you and attempted to drag you to a sleazy hotel room. After all, he was paying you to be "_his piece." _It took all of your strength to fight your way to freedom and escape, and even though you were safely locked behind the confines of your home, you couldn't quite shake that feeling of guilt and grime from you, no matter how long your shower was.

Curling up into a ball on your bed, you ignored the soft pinging sounds of incoming emails on your devices and pulled the blanket up to your chin tightly to stop yourself from being exposed to the world. A steady stream of pent up tears leaked down your cheeks. Even though you may put on a brace face when confronted by danger, it didn't stop the feeling of vulnerability from eating away at your psyche.

'_Maybe it's time to give it all up.' _A soft though spoke to you.

But what else could you do? The only reason why you got into this business in the first place was because you had unsuccessfully landed a job in any other industry and was forced to take matters into your own hands. You weren't strong enough to be a hunter and nor where you skilled enough to be a chef; a dream that had long since died out since your study days. You once dreamed of owning your own restaurant and being showered in gratitude from happy eaters, but you struggled to stand out from the other students in your classes that always seemed to outshine you in every aspect. You weren't bad at cooking, but you weren't nearly good enough to be able to stand on your own competitively, especially in this era. To you, everyone else just seemed to _better_ than you when it came to cooking. You just couldn't _quite_ get your flavours to mix properly for that wow factor.

You had tried even getting into retail, but ended up getting irritated at the amount of entitled customers and the inane questions that were easily answered if they had just taken the initiative and _looked_ for it. The unfortunate thing is, your customer service was good, _great_ in fact, that you seemed to attract almost everyone your way. So, there you were; an approachable, kind and empathetic person that was good at interacting, but just sick of the monotony. Not your best move, but you quit your steady job on an impulse before you reached your limit and had a break down.

So here you are, managing some twisted blend of "customer service" and using your outward aesthetics to sustain a lifestyle, but not necessarily a healthy one. Despite your thoughts about how odd or shy your customers might be, you weren't so different yourself. Why did you enjoy this? In a weird way, you got some sort of odd pleasure from being able to provide company to someone, even if it was only for a limited time and it wasn't _completely_ genuine. Still, there had to be some underlying sense of honest empathy towards them, otherwise you wouldn't keep putting yourself through this and feeling that slight inkling of care when you parted way when all was said and done.

Right?

Drifting off to sleep, you didn't hear your mail pushed through the slot and another notice for your post box. 

'It's only been a day?' you said softly, peeling your second envelope open and your curiosity buzzed again once more. Another, almost identical folded piece of paper slipped out and you were met again with those emerald strokes.

_Dear Sugar,_

_I must deeply apologise. Your request of communications inflicts a lot of unease for me. I'd like to stay off the grid as much as possible, so I refrain from putting any sort of personal/identifiable information into it. I feel much more comfortable corresponding this way. Please do not worry about responding in time; I'll always make sure you aren't waiting long. Besides, what I need you for isn't for a little over a month._

_On the topic of that. Well, I need someone to come with me to a banquet. Seems pretty simple, right? Especially in this day and age. I'm told that the food that's being served consist of special preparation ingredients and that only a very small number of patrons are being given this opportunity. _

_The catch is that those invited are requested to bring a partner of the opposite sex; to "truly appreciate the evening's offerings." I haven't been given any more information than that at this time, and well, it pains me to admit that I am at a loss regarding this particular parameter._

…_I've spent a life trying to keep people at a distance to me and it's moments like these that I see myself at such a disadvantage. I wouldn't normally see this as the case, but recently I've begun to feel like perhaps I've made a mistake._

…_Regardless, I hope this might interest you further. At the very least, come and enjoy some food with some good company?_

_C_

_Oh, and I almost forgot. If you ever find yourself travelling to Gourmet Fortune, you should wear a green scarf. _

'Gourmet Fortune, huh?' you said quietly, twirling the end of your hair around your finger. Something about this person was giving you that strange feeling of comfort that you shouldn't logically be feeling by any means. Glancing at a nearby clock, it read it was about three AM. You should have gone to bed hours ago, but your attempted assault played havoc with your senses. You were still on the fence about throwing in the towel for everything, but something deep in your heart was urging you to go through with this. You couldn't explain it, but maybe this could be your swansong?

Gourmet Fortune wasn't _that_ far away from where you currently lived. Maybe a change of scenery would be worth it to help clear your head. The green scarf comment threw you for a loop though.

'_I guess he must live there or travel to it frequently.' _you thought, tapping your foot rapidly on the floor with indecision. Did you cut your losses then and there and decline this invitation? You were still feeling apprehensive of continuing and the idea of just letting it all go seemed very inviting. Except, eating food didn't seem like a bad place to be?

Your stomach growled with want and you pulled your hands to it. You realised that you hadn't had anything to eat for hours; you weren't exactly in a position before to whet your appetite when you were being dragged around to every corner of every room like a show piece. The idea of snacking on gourmet food away from the general public was a _very_ tempting offer. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad?

You fossicked around for your professional stationery and pulled out a fresh piece and an envelope, before drawing back out the deep purple pen you used last time. Consistency always felt professional in your opinion, even down the kind of pen you used.

_Dear C,_

_So, you want to pay me to eat some food with you? Sounds a little too good to be true._

_But I've been thinking about it all and, well…_

You paused for a moment, feeling your heart start to beat faster in your chest.

_It sounds like a dream. I think I might need this._

_See you soon._

_Sugar_


	3. Chapter 3

A light breeze ran across your skin as the sun filtered a comforting warmth from overhead. The platform at Gourmet Fortune was welcoming, with a small fountain spraying a modest stream of water in front of you as you descended the small length of stairs. The town was a nice change from the hustle and bustle from where you called home, and you felt yourself beginning to destress with every breath of the coastal air. You were quite glad that you decided to come here several weeks before you actually needed to, and the hotel you secured for your stay even had a nice little promotion happening when you booked. All of the cosmic signs in the universe were pointing to you and telling you that you were doing the right thing.

You took your time winding your way through the small streets, listening to the light rumble of laughter mixing in with the sound of the nearby ocean. The scent of freshly-brewed coffees and baked breads wafted out into the open air around you; invisible fingers drawing you in closer as if to say "_come and try us!"_ Your stomach growled lightly in protest as you kept walking past, taking in every small detail about this town. Why you never visited before seemed like such a strange thing to you.

You could hear the babble of talking growing as you wove your way deeper into the heart of town. You were looking for the hotel you had booked with but the increasing noise was drawing your curiosity. You secured your sheer green neckerchief and gripped your wheeled luggage tightly before heading closer to the rabble. You couldn't help but feel in the bottom of your heart that your mystery correspondent was close; well, you hoped so. Although you weren't wearing a traditional scarf, you hoped the desired effect was still achieved.

You eventually made a left turn and had to stop suddenly before crashing into the back of someone. You blinked in surprise before peeking around the lanky body in front of you. Your mouth dropped in awe at the sudden length of line in front of you. You gazed further ahead, but couldn't quite see what the text said on the sign through the small sea of bodies, so you tapped on the shoulder before you.

"Excuse me" you said shyly, still keeping a tight grip on your luggage handle. "What is everyone lining up for?"

"You don't know?" A young black-haired man in front of you blinked in surprise. "This is where everyone gets their fortunes read. It's basically the best thing about this town."

"Fortunes?" You questioned softly, confusion crossing your features as you tipped your head to the side lightly.

"Yeah, Coco's Fortunes are amazingly accurate. You can ask him anything and he'll tell you. For a fee, of course."

"Oh... thank you."

With that, the man turned back around and started playing on his phone while he waited. You glanced at the small watch on your wrist and shrugged. You didn't need to check in until late evening, so you figured you would kill time and wait your turn. Besides, your curiosity turned into a mild bubbling of excitement.

"Any question, huh?" You thought, trying to figure out what sort of question you should ask.

You noticed a few more people had appeared behind you, queuing for their fortunes to be told. You couldn't believe how quickly the line was growing before you heard a gleeful squeal pierce the air ahead.

"I can't wait! Thank you, Coco!" A pretty young girl squealed with happiness as she exited the fortune-telling house. Another young man followed behind her, a red blush on his face as he looked at the woman. The girl, her red dress shimmering in the afternoon sun, seemed to radiate with her happiness and she clung on to his arm and dragged him away.

"I can't _wait_ for our kids! Can't you imagine it honey?! Three precious boys and one beautiful baby girl!" The excitement in her voice rang out over the queue, and woman in line let out collective "_aww's"_ and gushed praise. A lot of men made eye contact with her partner and gave him half smiles and weak chuckles of "_congratulations_" as they made their way back. You noticed the man had a small metal sign in his free hand which he promptly plopped behind you.

"Coco said to put that there. Looks like you're his last client for the day." He said quickly, while his girlfriend tugged him away.

"Oh, okay." You said, while collective groans and titters broke out behind you before the people behind you began to walk away disappointed.

You weren't sure how long it was you waited, but the line progressed with a slow crawl. With every step forward, you pulled both your luggage and the small metal sign with you. You figured that leaving it where it was would invite extras to try and sneak in, and you weren't completely sure what the proper protocol was in Gourmet Fortune. At least there was a nice ocean canal view while you waited, so you didn't mind the long wait too much. Occasionally a small gondola would drift by with tourists on them. Eventually, the lanky man in front of you was called in and you were left to scope out the building in front of you.

It was a rather quaint little store, with sandstone walls and a little cobblestone path leading into the entrance, a small roof with green bricks neatly topped it all off. The sign had a small purple skull and crossbones insignia in the middle of the word "Coco". You furrowed your brow at the skull; it looked so out of place since this was a fortune-telling store.

About ten minutes passed before the man had finished his appointment and left the store. He had a small smile on his face, so you internally wished that he had had some good news. Good for him.

"Next please." A mellow voice drifted out of the ether, snapping you out of your thoughts.

You pulled the sign in and tucked it over to the side behind the doorway. You looked around in surprise at what you saw. You were expecting a dimly lit room with purple curtains draped from the ceiling, incense burning and a crystal ball on a circular table in the middle of the room. This wasn't the case. Instead, the interior was just the same bare walls with two boxed shelves across the back wall holding products you didn't know. A lantern was stuck in the right-hand side of the wall overseeing a light brown desk with a monitor on it, and seated in the middle of the desk was-

"Hello there."

That same, soft voice snapped you back once again and you found it belonged to a rather handsome man. You half expected some sort of gypsy to be running this shop. He had a myriad of green wrappings hugging his arms and wrists over a black body suit, a beige cape draped over his shoulders and across his left arm. Raven hair peeked out from underneath a green turban on his head; accented with a small red "_p_" motif. You only had a quick glance at the fuchsia chain clipped on his left ear before you were drawn into the pair of eyes boring into you.

"Is there something I can help you with?" The man asked again, resting his chin on the back of one hand and giving you a soft smile.

"Oh! Right, yes." You stammered, pulling your bag to your side as you stepped closer to the desk. "I'm sorry, I haven't been here before, and I'll be honest, I'm not really sure what to ask."

The man let out a small chuckle before standing up from his chair.

"That's okay, everyone has a first time here at some point." He said kindly.

"You're probably aware by now, but I tell someone's fortune. I just need to know what kind of questions you're wanting answered."

"Right. Well..." you trailed off, acutely aware that you were unprepared, despite all of the time you had earlier to think of something, _anything_, before coming in. "I guess...-"

You stopped and tapped your finger on your chin, your mind scrambling to think of a question. You didn't want to pick something cliché or embarrassing, but surely there was something you could think of.

"Do you want some insight on a career? Money? Love?"

He said those choices so autonomously, so you figured that they must have been the usual requests. A small laugh fell out of your mouth.

"No, no. I'm okay with those. I'm going through some changes any way." You said, looking at the man's face. He had deep hazel eyes sheltered by long eyelashes.

"Will I be happy?"

Your question caught him by surprise as his eyes grew wide briefly. He couldn't help but let out a soft laugh as well and looked at his hand. He smiled again after a small moment before looking back at you.

"Well, it appears that your _changes_ are going to make you quite happy. It looks like you're making some strong choices. Of course, there's going to be some trials and tribulations, but in the end, it'll all be worth it."

Your heart gave a small skip and you were smiling a genuine smile before you knew it. That feeling of warm comfort from earlier filled your being once again.

"Wow, I sure hope you're right." You said, smiling back at him again.

"I have a pretty good track record." He laughed, before coming around from his chair. You couldn't help but notice that he was quite tall; your frame would fit snugly if you hugged him. You dismissed that thought quickly from your mind; you weren't in a position to be thinking those things, especially with an upcoming job.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" He said kindly with a smile.

"...'Sugar?'"

This time you were the one taken aback and your (e/c) eyes grew wide like saucers. You breathed your next word with the quietest puff of air.

"...'_C_'?"


	4. Chapter 4

How it didn't register to you that _Coco_ was the _Heavenly_ _King_ _Coco_, you'll never quite figure out. Even with all of the gallivanting you did with so many strangers, _surely_ you would have come across the names of the Heavenly King Gourmet Hunters. You had, but for some reason, your brain had decided to block any and all information in the moment you met him. The pieces only started to fall into place when you had checked into your hotel room. At least Coco had offered to meet with you again later that night to talk things over. Maybe then you could redeem yourself from being the bumbling mess you were a little over an hour ago.

Now it was time to put your professional shoes on; figuratively, not physically, though you did have a pair of heels that you often enjoyed and even accentuated your rear quite flatteringly. You wouldn't let your previous encounter hinder your work. After all, you were here to do a job, even if you were here weeks earlier than you were needed. At least the brief reprieve gave you time to freshen yourself up before your second meeting with the Heavenly King, and you were determined to make a good impression in front of him this time.

Slinking into a fairly modest evening dress, you felt a little more in the correct headspace for this job. You could say that these clothes were your uniform. While the dress itself boasted a nice coverage, it did flaunt several aspects of your figure that sometimes scores you that extra incentive with clients. A little cleavage, slightly form-fitting, but a very sexy slit up the side that helped expose _just _enough thigh to pique their desire. Topping it all off, your green neckerchief was back on, making you look and feel very fetching. To be fair, you didn't expect your light seduction to work on him, but there was no harm in trying. Besides, the thought of seducing someone with his physique had begun to creep into your psyche, and you rather enjoyed that image.

One last thing to do before heading back out into the crisp evening air was to give your teeth a little brush. This was the most important part of your pre-business routine, because it helped you calm your mind. Whether it was counting the amount of circles you made or the fresh feeling you had afterwards, you weren't entirely sure but you weren't about to knock it. It was only when you were brushing the back of your tongue quickly that you noticed them again.

Three small green spots.

Just three, tiny green spots in a triangle situated at the back of your tongue. This was something you had to deal with all of your life. Doctors had told you that they weren't contagious and not to panic if they got bigger and melded into one large spot. Non-cancerous, and they didn't give you any ailments. You had never found a diagnosis for what it was, but they were easily covered up with some light cosmetic laser surgery. You had had it done multiple times, but still they always came back after a while. You weren't worried, but covering them up gave you a bit more self confidence; getting intimate with someone didn't seem likely from a woman with a green tongue. You had time, so you didn't worry too much about it and finished up your brushing, making a mental note to visit the surgeon again when you were done.

Street lamps cast a soft white light over the streets of Gourmet Fortune, while the night sky sat on the heavens; a velvet cloak studded with diamonds of stars winking down over you. You had met Coco at his shop again before he offered an evening walk on the beach.

"Sounds delightful." You smiled, recalling the utter swarm of women that had accosted him earlier that day as soon as he had left his house of fortune.

"A lot more private, I would assume." You chuckled.

"Considerably so." Coco smiled, taking the lead.

The ocean's gentle lapping on the soft sand as you both walked made for a refreshing atmosphere. You would have loved to stay here forever, but there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"So, should we talk shop?" You probed, slowing your pace down, swinging your heels lightly in your hands. You had taken them off before stepping onto the beach.

"Yes, I think we're far enough away." Coco smiled, matching your slower steps.

"So, why does a Heavenly King require the services of someone like me? Surely you would have known at least a few ladies."

Coco gave a dry laugh of derision.

"Technically, I know many ladies. But I don't find them nearly as interesting as they think I am. Besides, my fortune said that it would beneficial of me to search elsewhere."

"Oh? And how'd you settled for me then?"

"Easy. I could write to you, and I rather happened to like the name."

"The name? What, 'Sugar'?"

"No, the other one." Coco laughed, genuinely this time. "I happen to be quite partial to anything related to poison."

"Poison? That's not something you hear every day. Really?"

Coco stopped abruptly, making you double take.

"You don't...-"

"Don't what?" You questioned.

"You don't know about me, do you?"

"Well I mean, I know a little bit about you." You cast your gaze over the water, trying to remember as much information as you could.

"Heavenly King Coco, Gourmet Hunter turned Soothsayer, though I couldn't tell you why that's the case. Quite well respected from everyone, as far as I can tell. To be honest, there's never really been too much reported or documented about you."

You looked back over to see that a sadness clouded over Coco's smile as he looked down at his feet before making eye contact with you again.

"For me, that's a good thing. I'm a dangerous man." He said quietly.

"Dangerous?"

"Yes, dangerous." He started to unwrap one of the green wrappings on his right arm, breaking eye contact again.

"My body is filled with poison. I can protect myself from over five hundred different types of poisons, but it came at a price." His hand changed from its creamy skin tone to a lilac, then a royal purple. You watched as different shades of purple seemed to pulse over his digits, and you couldn't help but feel a tiny bit squeamish over it all.

"I'm scared of hurting people, so I've always kept everyone at a distance in fear of poisoning someone. I don't like people getting too close to me, so that's where I have my problem."

Coco began to wrap his wrist again as his hand returned to its normal state. You closed the small distance between you both.

"So, you have a little poison. Big deal." You said, beaming a smile at him. You were trying to stop your heart from racing over your brash response, but you couldn't help but feel a wave of sadness for him.

"I've been around the block with a lot of people," you began, forcing his gaze to yours. "And I can assure you, that there's been a lot more people I've been scared of compared to you."

Coco went to speak but you waved your hand dismissively.

"Getting back to business," you said, turning away and walking slowly across the sand again, forcing the Heavenly King to follow. He didn't have much ground to cover before he was by your side again.

"What sort of package are you needing from me? I'm going to say that uh, anything more intimate from me is off the table." You smirked, eyeing him off to the side.

"Sorry if you had your hopes up." He quipped back, matching your smirk.

"Are you needing me to be seen as your girlfriend? Long-lost or star-crossed lover? And old flame? What sort of front am I putting on to people so they don't get the idea you've just purchased a 'Gourmet Prostitute' for the night."

"Please don't call yourself that." Coco said quietly, while you laughed dryly.

"I mean, I'm not technically wrong, but sure. I prefer the term _attendee_ anyhow."

"How about we go with just... old friend?"

"Huh, that's a new one. Usually my clients want a little more from me."

"I'm not your usual client."

"No, no you are not." You said softly as you smiled up at him, letting your (e/c) bore into his hazel irises. They reminded you of a pool of hot chocolate that kept pulling your gaze deeper and deeper. You could have sworn that the faintest tint of blush crept over his cheekbones, but you blamed it on the low light playing tricks on you.

"I guess that means that we need to do a 'getting to know you' phase." You said simply, breaking off contact again. Any longer, you would have felt your cheeks burn and you were not about to make a fool of yourself in front of him again. "If we want to convince everyone we really _are_ old friends."

"I wouldn't mind that. To be honest, I haven't been any sort of social with a new person in a long time... I'd like to try and change that."

"I guess we're both making changes in our life then. Tell me-"

You pointed at his left hand.

"Will you be happy?"

Coco looked at his hand briefly.

"There's a ninety-seven percent chance that I might be." He smirked.

"I like those odds." You grinned stopping in front of a cluster of rocks that barred you from going further down the sand.

"So... Sugar-"

"Oh, of course!" You blurred out, smacking your forehead with your palm.

"Mmm?"

"(Y/n)." You stated simply, holding out your hand to shake his. This action was out of pure muscle memory, not because you were ignoring his previous explanation.

"Oh, right!" Coco said, not taking your invitation. "It's nice to meet you, (y/n)."

"Likewise, Mister C. It's a pleasure to meet you too."

It was only then that you realised what you were doing, and you withdrew your offered palm. You were going to let it slide before you had a sudden burst of inspiration.

"Wait..."

You dropped your pair of heels on one of the rocks and began unwrapping your neckerchief from your neck.

"What are you doing?"

"Just wait." You said, as you wrapped the sheer fabric around your hand quickly, like a makeshift bandage.

"There." You said triumphantly, offering your hand to shake again and locking eyes once more.

"(Y/n). My name is (y/n). It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister...?"

You dangled the question before the Heavenly King, waiting to see what he was going to do. You already knew his name, but this would make it official.

"Coco." He smiled, slowly taking his hand and placing it in yours. Even though there were some light layers between your palms, you could feel a cool softness radiating from his touch.

"Well, then, Coco," you said, taking your hand away and picking up your shoes with the other. "Shall we continue this now or begin everything tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow sounds good." Coco said, retreating his hand behind the safety of his cloak. "I should probably return home soon."

"Tomorrow it is, then."

"I'll let you know where to meet. Is that okay?"

"Sure. I'm staying at the Aqua. It's on a corner near a little cafe."

"I'll be sure to find it."

"Great. I can't wait."

Coco gave you a warm smile and turned back in the direction you came. You took the hint and started walking up the beach again, feeling the soft breeze over your skin again. Oddly enough, you felt quite warm on such a mild night. You hadn't removed the wrappings on your palm, but it occurred to you that the cool feeling you had felt before still intensely lingered in its weave.


	5. Chapter 5

"_Where_ _is_ _he?_" you thought, letting your feet carry you further and further north, as per your instructions. You had another letter gripped tightly in your hand, and were following its instructions detailed in those emerald green ink on the page.

When you woke up this morning to a soft rapping on your hotel door, you were greeted by an employee wishing you a pleasant morning, and held out another envelope for you to take.

"This was left for you at reception." The bellhop smiled at you holding his hand out.

"Oh, thank you very much!" you said excitedly, grabbing the envelope from him and wishing him a good day. Even though you knew who was writing them, these letters would still give you a giddy excitement that bubbled up from your stomach.

_Sugar,_

_Meet_ _me_ _today_ _around_ _noon,_ _North_ _of_ _town_. _Take_ _a_ _left_ _at_ _Bakery_ _Gourmet_ _and_ _follow_ _the_ _path_ _that_ _leads_ _out_ _into_ _the_ _green_ _fields._ _Keep_ _walkingand_ _I'll_ _meet_ _you_ _along_ _the_ _path. _

_I_ _give_ _you_ _my_ _word_ _that_ _I'll_ _meet_ _you._ _Please_ _don't_ _turn_ _back._

_C_

That was quite some time ago, but as you kept walking along the path, you noticed it was beginning to die out; the white stones becoming quite sparse before they were swallowed by a lush grass entirely. The fields stretched onto the horizon for ages, and you began to feel unease snaking its way through your body.

"_Did_ _I_ _go_ _too_ _far?_"

There was no trace of Coco or any sort of thing to gauge a landmark from, and by this point you were really starting to worry. Had something happened to him? Was he hurt?

…were _you_ about to get hurt?

Even though you shook your head at that thought, you couldn't stop the panic rising in you, and you pressed all of your hope into your heart. Should you keep going? Glancing back, you noticed just how far you had travelled; Gourmet Fortune was only a small beige blur behind you, and you could barely see the ocean surrounding the small town. The wind began to whip and pushed a cloud of dirt into your eyes, causing you to wince and shield yourself from the oncoming natural onslaught. Thank goodness you wore jeans and a blouse today; this wind would have sent any skirt or dress flying upwards and revealing a little too much of yourself.

Not that anyone was around to see it.

At least, that's what you thought before a sound prickled in your ears. You swore it was a voice calling your name being drowned out in the wind. You lowered your arms and waited for that sound again. Were you just hearing things you wanted to hear?

"…._(y_/_n)!_"

There it was again! It was getting louder now though.

"_(Y_/_n)!_"

No, that really was a voice calling out to you! You faced North again and you were flooded with relief. You could begin to make out the shape of Coco's turban, before you could see his hand waving out to you.

"_Coco!_" you yelled back, making strides to close the distance between you both. Eventually you were face-to-face with the Heavenly King again. Well, face-to-chest more like; he was a lot taller than you and you kept forgetting that fact. To be fair, this was the first time that you had seen him in broad daylight, and you had _grossly_ underestimated his features.

His chiselled jawline was shaped by the deep sideburns on his face, and his cheekbones were a lot more prominent in the light. Truly, Coco was blessed with a face that would definitely attract a lot of attention, and you were starting to understand why throngs of women threw themselves at him at every opportunity. Even though he was still wearing the same things as he was yesterday, the sun brought out a lot more of the definition in his muscles and you could see the shape of his biceps under his bodysuit. The shape of his pectorals hugged behind his dark coverings, and you felt your mind begin to wander at what other mysteries he was hiding beneath those dressings.

"_Stop_ _it!_" You scolded yourself mentally.

"Were you waiting long?" Coco's mellow voice broke your reverie, as he once again smiled down at you with that soft smile.

"Not too long. For a moment I thought I was in the wrong place." You admitted. "I have to ask though; this is certainly a long way to go. I didn't think we'd practically be in the middle of nowhere."

"Well, it's not quite nowhere for me." He chuckled, gesturing you to follow him further.

"See that pillar there?" He pointed off to a detached natural pillar in the distance. "That's home for me."

"Oh, wow." You breathed, noticing the large expanse of space between the mountain side you were standing on and the pillar Coco's house was on.

"You're so… _detached_ from everyone." You said sadly, wondering exactly just how far would Coco have gone to be away from people.

Coco felt the sadness in your tone, and a fleeting, subtle wave of sorrow washed over him.

"I always thought that it was best." He admitted softly, scratching the back of his head. "I still sort of do. I like my company, and it makes me feel safe."

"_What_ _in_ _the_ _world_ _could_ _make_ _you_ _feel_ _unsafe?_" you wondered, turning to look at him again. You had this urge to lean over and hold him close, but you couldn't. You were on the job.

"Right, well, let's get down to business." You said, taking a seat on the grassy hill. It was pleasantly soft, much to your surprise. The wind was blowing a little, but you didn't mind the warm gales. Coco followed suit, sitting down next to you. His cape brushed over your arm as he moved it behind him, and you were surprised by the weight it had behind it.

"So, I have some paperwork here," you began, pulling a small folder out from your shoulder bag and opening to a small stack of paper. "It's the boring stuff, but you know, it's all protocol."

"Of course." Coco said, watching you scan over the texts.

"Based on what we had discussed yesterday, I worked out what I think is a pretty fair price. We can negotiate it now if you like? I've also added the types of things that are expected from the both of us, and we can go over those too if there's anything you want to change."

You handed the contract to him and he started to read it while you busied yourself with searching for the pens in your bag. You had brought two, which was not something you normally did, but he seemed quite partial to the colours he liked to use, so you opted for a green and purple one to choose from. You could hear the rustling of paper while you were still scratching around, but you didn't expect him to be finished already.

"Everything seems good so far. There's just a few things I'd like to alter, if that's okay?"

"Huh?" You blinked at him owlishly. "Did you even read it?"

"Of course I did!" Coco laughed, turning back to the front page. "Good eyes, is all."

"Oh…right."

"I'd just like to add a small change to the confidentiality agreement, is all." Coco said softly. "I'm quite a private person, as you may have guessed."

"Sure, go ahead. I mean, there was always going to be that, but what did you have in mind?"

"Just a clause that this contract is not to be digitally saved in any way. I'm not comfortable with having any records of mine saved on that sort of format. I'm trying to keep myself off the grid as much as I can."

"I can do that for you, no issue." You marked the edit on the second sheet of paper. Thankfully you had taken the time to hand-write the contract this time around, inwardly praising yourself for leaving your laptop back at home. Frankly, you didn't even want to check your emails or incoming messages so you had silenced all of your notifications relating to it on your phone too; a late-night decision you were happy you had done.

"Anything else?"

"Just one more thing. Can I borrow your pen?"

"Err, okay?"

Coco flipped to the last page and began scribbling some extra digits to your final price. You watched him with wide eyes as your mouth dropped. Suddenly, your five-digit number became ten.

"Oh no, no no no no!" You said, attempting to take the paper away and cross out his edits. "Coco, that's way too much!"

"It's nothing."

"_Nothing?!_ Are you _kidding_ me?"

"I think it's more than fair." He said simply, holding the paper high up into the air like a schoolyard bully. "Could I have the green pen now?"

"Coco," you said, your tone almost a whine. "I can't ask that from you…"

"It's not asking if I wrote it." With that, he plucked the other pen from your hand and scrawled his signature on the dotted line. "And now, it's official."

"Oh my god." You whispered, not entirely sure of what you just witnessed, as Coco handed everything back to you with a smirk.

"Don't worry about it." He said, prompting you to put everything away. 'You might not want to lose that. It's important you know." He grinned at you playfully, and you found yourself sighing with resignation. You weren't going to win this battle, so you did as you were told.

"How old are you again?" you joked.

"Twenty-seven."

"Wait, really?"

"Do I not look it?"

"…I don't know how to answer that properly, so I'm not going to."

"Nice deflection. What else do you want to know?"

"As much as you want to tell me, I guess. The more information I get, the easier this is going to be to work with you properly."

"Let's take it in turns then. I'll need to know more about you too."

"Fair point… What's your favourite... colour?"

Coco let out a strong laugh.

"That's pretty obvious, isn't it? It's green."

"_You're_ _an_ _idiot._" You chided yourself mentally.

"I should have guessed that." You burst into laughter. "It suits you well."

"I've noticed something strange about that, though." He said, looking out over the field.

"What's that?"

"The townsfolk don't wear any green. I think maybe they believe that the colour belongs to me or something. It's not like they don't have the option available to them. It's like they all just universally decided to not wear it."

Thinking back, you did recall that there was an absence of green clothing on all the people that you saw yesterday. Now that it was pointed out to you, it _was_ odd.

'Maybe it's a sign of respect?" you suggested. "Perhaps they think that wearing it is a bit of a faux pas unless they're personally associated with you? Like how purple used to be considered a royal colour, so only nobles would wear it."

"So, you're saying I'm royalty?" Coco joked, giving you a grin.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they thought that. You _are_ a Heavenly King, after all."

"Hmm. I never thought of it that way. Okay, what's your favourite food?"

"That's tough... I guess I'd have to say... (f/f). Yours?"

"I have a few but...Lee Dragon's Tears Soup."

"I've never even heard of that, but it sounds delicious."

"Believe me, it is. What scares you the most?"

"Wow, we're getting a little deep aren't we?"

"You don't have to answer it if it makes you uncomfortable. I don't really know where that came from."

"No it's fine. Umm...-"

You tapped your finger to your chin again, a habit you had picked up back in your days of culinary school when you were stuck on something.

"Being afraid of dying without meaning anything to someone." You said softly.

Cocos mouth parted lightly at your answer. Truthfully, he wasn't sure how to respond to that, since it wasn't the kind of answer he had expected to come from you.

"What about you?" You asked, just as softly as you had answered.

"Scie- uh, samba outfits." He corrected awkwardly, leaving you to make a snorted laugh.

"Wait, _samba_ _outfits?!_" You said incredulously. "_How?!_"

A sheepish look flashed across Coco's face.

"...There was a time where, for twelve nights, I had the same recurring dream of me being stuck in a samba outfit and I was dancing."

You tried to stifle your giggling behind a hand, but you were failing to even disguise them.

"Did you have the big feathers?" You choked out the question between giggle and snorts.

"_Yes!_ They were azure! And I was stuck with these gaudy purple shoulder decorations and a purple belt and...-"

Coco covered his face with both hands, hiding his embarrassment.

"I stood out so much. I hated it. It was a nightmare and it didn't even exist."

By this point, you couldn't contain your laughter anymore and the laughs were flowing freely; so much so that you were hiccuping between words.

"I'm sorry! - I shouldn't -_hic-_ laugh! But that's -_hic_\- the funniest thing I've ever -_hic_\- heard!"

Before long, the two of you were swapping different stories and anecdotes about yourselves freely for hours. You were surprised at how relaxing the whole endeavour was, and what surprised you more was how much Coco seemed to be relenting to you. You found out that he liked to read, and books about poisons and nature were a favourite of his. Neither of you went too deep about your past, but that was fine; you felt at ease, and strangely, you felt like you were making a connection with him. Still, your warnings about getting too close to a client kept nagging in the back of your mind, and you tried to push them away.

"Coco, have you got any family?" You asked, as you lay on your back staring at the sky.

"Well, I guess technically I do. You'll meet some of them soon enough."

"Oh really? Can I ask who they are?"

Coco passed a sly smile your way.

"No, I think I'll let you wait on that one." He said. You almost saw the gleam of a wink in his eye. "Although, there is someone in my family you can meet now."

"Now?"

Coco just kept smiling before drawing his third finger and middle finger to his lips, blowing a high pitched whistle. It was so loud it caused your eardrum to vibrate a little and you clapped a hand to your ear.

"Who are you-?"

"Just wait."

A beat of a moment passed and you could hear the sound of flapping drawing closer to you from behind. You whirled around and stood, watching the shadow of an enormous bird begin to descend to your resting place.

"_Krrryaaaah!_"

"Holy shi-"

"Hi Kiss." Coco greeted the bird enthusiastically, patting the amethyst beak of the creature.

"(Y/n), this is Kiss. He's an Emperor Crow, and I consider him family."

"_Oh_ _my_ _god..._" you whispered, taking in the sight of the incredible avian before you. His plumage was a beautiful deep purple; so dark it looked black in the shadows of its curves and edges. Red eyes watched you intently as you stood shaking in front of it. You had pulled your arms in front of you instinctively to protect yourself, but you knew that if he wanted to kill you, he'd have no trouble doing so.

"Can... can I touch him?"

"What do you say, Kiss? Is that okay?"

"_Kryyyaww._" Kiss squawked.

You extended a hand, not even trying to hide your fear as your whole arm shook with nerves. You opened a palm and turned your face away and closed your eyes; fate would decide if your limb made it out alive or not. Your took a rattled breath and waited.

And waited.

You felt a thick, glossy texture underneath your fingertips, and you peeked out from your eyelids. Kiss had tipped his beak towards you and let you make contact with him. Even Coco looked surprised; Kiss wasn't normally as trusting with new people, just like his master. You gently made a patting motion along his beak, taking in every small bump and ridge underneath your fingers.

"He's beautiful!" You exclaimed quietly, feeling your lips grow into a smile. "How in the world did you even get to come across someone like him?"

"I raised him from an egg I found. Since then, he's had my back ever since."

Coco continued to pat his animal friend, scratching him behind his neck in the places he knew he liked.

"He's also our ride to the banquet." Coco said quickly. "So you better get used to riding him!"

"Wait, Coco- _aah!_"

In the blink of an eye, Coco has ascended onto Kiss's shoulders and pulled you along to sit behind him.

"Let's go!"

"Coco, wait! What do I hold on to-!"

With several powerful flaps of his broad wings, Kiss had ascended into the air as you let out a shriek. With sheer panic, you wrapped your arms around the first thing you set your eyes on, which happened to be Coco's waist, and squeezed your eyes shut. Harsh winds whipped around you and you clung onto the body in front of you for dear life.

Having someone touch him so intensely was a feeling Coco had never experienced, so he was quite taken by surprise to feel your hands clasp together around his midriff, but oddly he didn't mind the sensation. You would never know it, but he smiled at your touch as he guided Kiss into a gentle flight.

"(Y/n), open your eyes." He said kindly.

"...I'm scared." You admitted over the wind.

"It's okay, I won't let you fall."

Slowly, you opened your eyes and gasped. You were soaring through the clouds hundreds of feet into the air, and the landscape around looked like a watercolour painting. Emerald greens of hills and sapphire pools of water blended together into a beautiful landscape around you, spotted with colours from the foliage below. The ocean sparkled under the light of the afternoon sun, and although the air temperature had changed into a crisp cloak, your adrenaline stopped you from feeling it. Goose bumps erupted over your body in sheer exhilaration. You had no words to describe how you felt.

"Doing okay back there?" Coco asked, tipping his head back to cast an eye over you. He smiled as you nodded exuberantly, not bothering to answer him with your words as you took in all of your emotions in the moment.

Coco kept smiling even as he turned away, leaving you to your wonders.

Kiss guided a lone Coco back to his home late into the night after dropping you back at your hotel safely. He waited until you were back into the building before setting off again towards home. He would never forget the way your (e/c) eyes had sparkled with admiration as you flew over the surrounding areas of Gourmet Fortune, still full of a delirious happiness long after you had landed and continued talking late into the evening.

Dusk had cast its amber rays over the hills, turning everything into a sweet orange before you decided to call it a day. Take off on Kiss was still a scary sensation for you, and he found your arms wrapped around him tightly again. Even though his fear of poisoning you immediately spiked, he settled once he realised his clothes would stop you from being hurt, and he tried to force himself to calm down at contact.

The Emperor Crow touched down outside of his house, and he thanked his companion graciously as always before heading inside. Throughout the day, Coco had noticed his heart making odd kicks that were very out of the ordinary for him. He placed a hand on his chest over his heart and felt it happen again, frowning a little at the feeling. He made a note of keeping an eye on it and began to turn in for the night, hoping the several glasses of water and the small bowl of strawberice would stop the sensation from occurring again.

Perhaps he was coming down with something. A good night's rest should fix that.


	6. Chapter 6

In the blink of an eye, four weeks had passed since you first stepped foot into Gourmet Fortune, but you couldn't even begin to think of what your life would have been like without being here. You heavily considered moving here once all was said and done, but that could have just been the allure of the town and the fact of being somewhere new for a while.

You had lost count on how many hours you and Coco had spent with each other, learning as much about him as he was willing to disclose to you. You noticed that as the days progressed, he appeared to be a little more relaxed around you, and you even began to convince yourself that you two _were_ old friends. You knew this couldn't be, but whatever doubt you had felt prior to accepting this job was dismissed. Sure, there were days that you didn't see him, but it gave you the opportunity to sight-see a lot more and experience some of the different restaurants and tourism traps that were on offer.

You came to realise that Coco's House of Fortune was _definitely _the calling card of the town, and you would watch from your hotel window the long line of patrons develop in front of the store from the wee hours of the morning until late in the day, regardless of weather. Some days, you could catch a glimpse of the poor soothsayer struggling to plaster on another smile before the next customer. Sometimes you would catch his eye and give a tiny wave his way, noticing the way his eyes would perk up from then on. There were days where you wouldn't see him at all; only then his small metal sign sitting in the doorway of his shop would stop the queue forming for the day. That was when you noticed that the disposition of the general public was always slightly depressed.

They really did adore him.

Which is where problems began to arise for you. Some eagle-eyed citizens had noticed your presence around the town; to the point where even a few of them witnessed you alongside the Heavenly King more than once. Neither of you had displayed any sort of public display of affection towards each other, but the simple act of being next to him had riled up a few of the women. One of them had even refused to serve you at a café because she recognised you and became irrationally irritated at your existence. It was a little shocking, but you had dealt with worse before. On the positive side, it did lead you to scout out a cosy little bookstore café combination, and you spent quite a few days there enjoying the atmosphere. Their coffee menu was just as large as their book selection.

The other problem you were facing was that, unavoidably so, you felt yourself becoming too attached to your client. Despite all of your beliefs that work relationships and personal relationships should be kept separate at all times, there was an ever-growing attachment that you had failed to get under control. The butterflies in your stomach, the skips of your heartbeat and even the semi-erotic dreams were a distraction that you had to quash, and quickly. There was no chance of a budding romance between the both of you; a fact only further evidenced by Coco's belief in how much he saw himself as a threat to others if he got too close to them.

So why did you keep wishing that something was going to happen?

Just do your job.

With one last hairpin, you had successfully turned your (h/c) locks into a French braid and tucked the rest into an elegant bun. All you knew was that the banquet tonight required you to be in formal attire; nothing less than the height of sophistication. You refused to be less anyhow, especially on the arm of someone as high-profile as a Heavenly King. At the same time, you had to take into account for the blustery ride on Kiss on the way there, and you wouldn't have the tools or the time to redo everything when you got there, so you felt confident in your choice. The dress was something else though.

Coming across it felt like the fates had dealt you a winning hand; blends of white lace and soft chiffon came together into what you could only describe as ethereal, topped off with a sweetheart cut and lace overlay. When you first looked at it, you believed it was a wedding dress, that was until you saw the hemline turned into an ombre finished with a peppermint green. That was what sealed the deal for you, and you strolled out of the boutique with all smiles. With a final twirl in the mirror, you were ready to take on tonight, even if you were a ball of nerves.

"_Okay._" You whispered to yourself, trying to psyche yourself up. "You have a job to do, so _don't_ let yourself get distracted_._"

You made eye contact with yourself in the mirror.

"Under no circumstances are you to allowed to act on any of your impulses. Understood?"

Your reflection simply stared back.

"I'll take that as a yes."

A soft tapping on your window caught your attention and you pulled it up to look out, suddenly face to face with a pair of hazel eyes you knew all too well.

"Hey there." You grinned at Coco, watching as he was already comfortably perched on Kiss as the Emperor Crow came in to land. You were only on the second floor, so the mighty avian beast was tall enough to land and still let his master talk to you.

"Are you ready?" Coco smiled; his eyes taking in all of you with a quick flash of movement.

"Just have to grab my things, hang on!" you said, dashing off to collect your clutch and a pair of shoes you hadn't bothered to put on yet. Trying to amble your way onto Kiss would have been too difficult and you'd rather not risk hurting him either. With Coco's help, you were once again seated behind him on Kiss's soft plumage, and he pulled your window shut with one hand somehow before the three of you took flight.

You were more accustomed to flying at this point. Even though you were used to the sensation, you still wrapped your arms around Coco's waist; a habit you had developed that he hadn't corrected you on. You took care to not dirty the white tuxedo he was wearing tonight with your makeup. You had also noticed that he had changed from his standard green turban to a spearmint coloured bandana covering his hair, but his fuchsia jewellery remained the same.

"Hey Coco, I've been meaning to ask you something." You queried, poking your chin over his shoulder so he could hear you better over the wind.

"What's up?"

"I wanted to ask you about your jewellery." You said, tracing a finger down the chain clipped to his ear.

"What about it?"

"What's it for? Is it some kind of weird fashion statement?"

"Auriculotherapy."

"Huh?"

"Auriculotherapy." Coco laughed. "Reflexology of the ears?"

"You've lost me."

"Different ear piercings give different effects on the human body… Mine help me with insomnia."

"You can't sleep?"

"I used to have trouble with it when I was younger. Not so much these days."

"Oh. Why's that?"

"Some things happened. It's not important right now."

"Does the chain do anything?"

"A lot actually. It's basically a constant stimulus for me, so when it moves, it tugs at my ear and it helps to keep the sensation of massaging it. It's highly susceptible to my surroundings, so before you ask, yes, I felt every vibration when you touched it."

"Oh… did it hurt when I touched it?"

"No, it's fine."

"Okay. Sorry if I do though."

"I don't think you can hurt me, (y/n)." Coco chuckled. "Try not to stress. Just focus on what we might get to eat tonight."

"Oh, I've been thinking about it for hours. I'm starving."

As if on cue, your stomach let out a rumble, which the Heavenly King felt on his back where your stomach was pressed up against him.

"Knowing what kind of people the hosts are, I'm sure we'll get our fill. We're not far anyhow."

"Where are we headed, anyways?"

"Gourmet Town."

"That's funny, I live there."

"You do?"

"Yeah, nothing special. Just a little patch of heaven I call home. It's an apartment."

"I might have to drop by sometime. Here we go!"

Coco pointed ahead and you could make out the familiar shapes of some of the more-famous buildings in Gourmet Town. Compared to Gourmet Fortune, this place was nearly triple the size of the little seaside township. Kiss flew over the skyscrapers and buildings, casting a shadow over the burning lights radiating from all different factors of sources. The Emperor Crow glided between the cloud cover until Coco directed him to begin his descent in front of a building that you weren't familiar with. It was still just as bright as every other construct you had passed, except you could see the glow and flashes of paparazzi dotted about in front of the entrance. Flash bulbs and camera crews were out in droves tonight.

"I expected them to be out tonight, but not nearly as many as this." Coco said quietly, almost inaudibly.

"Are you going to be alright with them?" You questioned.

"I'll be fine. I've dealt with the press many times. It's you I'm worried about."

"Eh? Why should I be worried?"

"I don't want people getting the wrong impression of you, is all. Besides, there could be some people that recognise you."

You swallowed down a lump in your throat at that comment. This wasn't something you had taken into consideration at all.

"What should we do?"

"It's alright, I have a plan. Just follow my lead. Put your shoes on, too."

"Okay…"

Since beginning as an escort, you had had a lot of practice getting different types of clothes on before which gave you an advantage. By the time you had slipped the last strap over the back of your heel, Kiss had descended into the throng of reporters, causing a lot of them to scatter as he let out a large cry. He stretched his wings out proudly, but kept them outstretched instead of folding them inwards like he would normally do. Coco slid off on the far side and called you to follow. You were hesitant but let yourself drop, surprised at how Coco didn't hesitate to catch you safely and steadied you on your feet.

"I'll go out the other side and you sneak into the building behind Kiss's wing. Quickly!"

"_So _that's_ why he still had his wings out. Clever!_" you thought as your nodded and followed suit. You could hear the hubbub between the press as you scampered inside as quick as you could.

"Another guest has just arrived on the scene here, folks!" a young lady's voice called out as she reported to her camera man. "Let's go and see who the next high-profile guest eating at Hotel Elune tonight!"

"Hello again, Tina." Coco said calmly, as cameras flashed at his entrance. The reporter, Tina, blinked at the sound of her name and turned around.

"Ahh, it's Heavenly King Coco! This is one mega-sized scoop of a news story here-"

Tina suddenly balked and gestured for her camera man to focus his lens in the opposite direction.

"Oh fudge, I'm so sorry Coco!": Tina said, hiding her microphone behind her back as well. "I promise, I won't show even one gram of you when the story airs!"

"Thank you, I appreciate that." Coco smiled softly, patting Kiss on his beak and signalling for him to leave. "I do wish these cameras weren't in my face though."

"Oh, let me take care of that for you!" She said, waving her hand before barking a bunch of commands at the photographers to delete all the images they had of him. One of them protested, saying she had an award-winning shot, but Tina had made her demands. A lot of them weren't even from her network, but she had attained a lot of clout over her working career, so they listened; mostly out of fear.

While Tina was on the verge of a conniption, Coco snuck away from the limelight and into the safety of the Hotel's foyer. His eyes scanned over the hall filled with guests until he picked out a familiar set of electromagnetic wavelengths he recognised all too easily. You were gazing around in awe at the room; velvet red curtains draped from every inch on the walls, the pristine chandeliers as they scattered droplets of rainbow light over the room, all the way down to the plush carpet beneath your feet.

"I'm punching above my weight here." You whispered to yourself before an airy chuckle reached your ears.

"Oh really?"

You jumped in fright over Coco's sudden appearance at your side.

"Don't scare me like that!" you complained, shoving his arm lightly. "How could you even see me so easily?"

"I told you, good eyes."

"Oh, come on, not this again. Just how _good_ can they be?!"

"It's because I can see-"

"I thought I saw you, Coco!"

A deep voice cut through his sentence, and you looked to see the muscular build of a blue-haired man. He had three deep scars etched under his left eye, like the claws of an animal had left them there. He, too, was dressed to the nines in a white tuxedo, but he opted for an all-white ensemble broken by a bright yellow tie across his chest. Hanging off of his arm was a smaller girl with navy hair and a single scratch under her right eye. The girl was simply radiating happiness in her sweet red dress.

"I didn't think you would show up!" the azure-haired man grinned. "Especially since you, you know-"

"I'm well aware." Coco interjected. "It's good to see you too, Toriko."

"Wait…" you murmured to yourself, not trying to draw attention to yourself.

"Coco!" The girl squealed. "You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend!"

You could feel your cheeks burning crimson by this point.

"I don't." Coco said bluntly. "But I _do _happen to have a _friend_ who happens to _be_ a girl."

"With you, Coco, that's basically the same thing!" the girl continued, grinning from ear-to-ear at everything.

"No it isn't-"

"Hi there!" her hand was shoved in front of you. "I'm Rin! What's your name?"

"(Y/n)." You stuttered, taken aback by the whole ordeal.

"Pleased to meet you! So, tell me, how did you two meet?"

"Oh, well," you began, giving a sideways glance at Coco. "We met a few years ago, when I was passing through Gourmet Fortune. I'm a travelling bookseller, and well, I guess I just happened to keep popping up at the right times. Coco was one of my regulars."

The story flowed from your lips so easily; spinning a complete falsehood in front of the two strangers before you. It was yet another skill you had developed through your years of escorting, so it came naturally to you. Even Coco was surprised at how easily the whole story was spun. He had had no input whatsoever into the backstory you needed; clearly, he didn't need to get involved in your cover up.

"Aww, that's so cute!" Rin cooed. "That sounds just like you, Coco!"

"Well, I'd hope so." He said simply. While you and Rin were getting better acquainted, Toriko was eyeing off your partner, still smiling, like they were having their own telepathic conversation.

"Anyways," you said, trying to bring the others into the conversation. "Are you and Toriko a thing?"

"Yes!"

"Huh? No, we're not," Toriko said confusedly. "Rin's basically the only girl I know and I just really want to eat some food."

You winced at the brutally honest way Toriko said those lines. It even caused Rin' to deflate a little.

"Come on Toriko, that can't be _all_ that it was."

"Well, yeah?"

You and Coco swapped looks of exasperation, and you couldn't help but feel sympathetic for the poor girl.

"Ahhh, Toriko! Coco!" another voice called out to your group, this time a much higher, brighter tone. The four of you looked around to see a small man making a beeline towards you all. He had on a brown suit jacket and dark slacks, grinning like a banshee.

"I'm so happy to see you both! Even if I am a little surprised."

"Hello Komatsu." Coco greeted the small man warmly. "It's been a while. I hope you've been well."

"Aye, I have been. I hope you have been too. Oh, I'm sorry Rin, I didn't see you before!"

"What's up, Komatsu?" Toriko said, patting him on his head. "Are you ready for some good eats? It smells pretty dang good in there." He jerked his thumb behind him, gesturing towards the dining room.

"You can smell that?" You asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Ahh, Toriko has the most amazing sense of smell." Komatsu said before double taking. "Oh, I'm so sorry. We haven't met before. My name's Komatsu."

"Hello. My name is (y/n)." You responded, but something was gnawing at the back of your mind. "Are you sure we haven't met before?"

Komatsu blinked at you owlishly.

"No? I don't think so?"

Then it suddenly hit you.

Just like you had almost hit him over a month ago.

"Ah! I'm so sorry again!" You burst out, clapping your hands together in a prayer form.

Everyone stared at you blankly.

"I almost ran into him a little while ago. Literally." You said embarrassed. It was then it finally clicked to Komatsu.

"Oh, _that?!_" he said, scratching the back of his head. "I told you, don't worry about it!"

"I know, but still."

"_Somehow _I figured it would be you all making such a huge ruckus. _So un-beautiful!"_

Yet another voice cut through, this time belonging to a rainbow-haired figure strutting over to your ever-growing group. His long locks were pulled back into a sleek pony-tail, and he, too, was garbed in a similar white suit like his counterparts. He was being tailed by a tall woman in a white pantsuit, with hair the spitting image of your new group member.

"Sunny!" Komatsu exclaimed, his smile growing wider somehow. "Ahh, this is so nice, all of us being together again!"

"Hmph, if you say so." The man named Sunny griped. "It's a shame that such an elegant event is going to be tainted by such gross people like Toriko."

"Hey, that's a little uncalled for, Sunny." Toriko pouted.

'Why do you have to be so mean, big bro?" Rin whined, her temper suddenly flaring.

"Eh? How are you here, Rin?!" Sunny turned his nose up.

"Toriko _invited_ me here, so there! Who's _this_ hag you've brought with you?!"

Sunny scoffed, bringing his hand to his chest in an overly-dramatic fashion. "Hag?! The only hag _I _see is the gaudy face of my little sister!"

"Whatever, girly-boy!"

"To answer your _obvious _question, this fine woman is none other than _my _hairdresser: Stella!"

The woman waved a hand with a hello.

"Your hairdresser?" Toriko asked.

"Stella is the _only_ person that I would trust with such beaut'ful hair like mine." Sunny said snobbishly. "As A matter of fact, she liked it so much, I was the inspiration for her hairstyle."

"Sunny, darling. I _can_ speak for myself." Stella said coolly, giving him a smirk.

'Well, I think it's lovely to have so many people here." Komatsu said, trying to ease the tension.

"Oi, 'Matsu, where's your date?" Sunny said.

"Oh, I wouldn't call it a date," Komatsu said with a blush. "Melk said she'll be here shortly, she's just using the bathroom."

Toriko let out a hearty laugh.

"I _knew_ you had a thing for her!" he laughed, slapping Komatsu on his back.

"No, I don't!" Komatsu shrieked, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"Why would you want to be seen with someone so unrefined?" Sunny said harshly.

"Sunny, that's a horrible thing to say!" Komatsu said, giving him a scowl. "Melk is lovely! And how could someone so unrefined make such beautiful knives?"

"Whatever." Sunny finished shortly. "Well, it looks like at least _someone else _here took the initiative to at least match their partner."

Sunny locked his cerulean eyes with yours, his gaze making you feel a little intimidated.

"It was a coincidence." You replied.

"Who would have thought that someone like Coco would know someone with some fashion sense?" Sunny gave a back-handed compliment to you, eyeing the way your dress seemed to be the reverse of Coco's ensemble.

"Stop touching her." Coco said flatly, giving his cohort an intense glare.

"Touching me?" You said, confused.

"Sunny's hair isn't like that for decoration." Coco said, his tone still just as flat. "He's able to manipulate invisible strands with ease. Frankly, he has far too many on you right now."

This sent a cold shiver running down your spine. The fact you couldn't see, let alone really feel yourself being touched still made you feel extremely exposed.

"You can see them?"

"Coco has incredible eyesight." Toriko answered quickly. "Not only can he see perfectly in dark spaces clear as day, but he can also see electromagnetic waves on people and things. So much so, he can see Sunny's 'Touches'."

"So _that's _what you meant by 'good eyes'?"

"I was getting there." Coco mused.

"Melk!" Komatsu piped up, waving over to a long-haired girl in a navy pantsuit. Her eyes brightened as she joined your party. You observed a deep cross-like scar on her face too. Just what kind of lives did these people have? It also made Sunny's throwaway comment before make a lot more sense. In reality, her face was quite soft behind her unfortunate scarring.

"Ah, I'm glad I found you, Komatsu." Melk said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm not used to being around so many people I don't know."

"That's okay. It looks like we're all here now." Komatsu said happily. "Is Zebra coming?"

Sunny, Coco and Toriko all tittered at this question.

"Nah, this really isn't his sort of thing." Toriko said simply, and Komatsu looked a little downtrodden.

"That's a shame."

"Anyways, everyone, this is (y/n)." Coco said, introducing you to everyone on your behalf. You gave a small wave and greeted everyone that was new to the group. "I expect we'll be going in soon."

"I hope so! I can't wait to chow down!" Toriko said eagerly.

"Always a glutton." Sunny murmured.

A soft ringing circulated around the foyer as a small, squat man with a large curly moustache clanged a golden spoon on a crystal glass. The buzz and murmuring came to a stop.

"Thank you, thank you everyone for coming!" the man said, his deep voice not entirely matching with his looks. "As manager of Hotel Elune, would like to welcome you to this years' banquet feast."

Soft applauding rumbled throughout the crowd.

"My name is Juzo, and I will be overseeing the festivities for tonight. It's wonderful to see so many happy faces, and so many lovely couples before me."

You blushed at the term again, and Coco's eyes flicked over you before looking back up at the speaker.

"Now, we have kept you all waiting long enough." Juzo said, spreading his arms out wide. "Hotel Elune, welcomes you, to celebrate the theme for this year, which is…"

The sound of drum rolling rumbled out as everyone waited with bated breath. With a final crack on the cymbals, Juzo smiled wider than ever.

"_Romance!"_

Confetti hearts began to rain down from large poppers in the ceiling, covering all of the guests in the foyer. Everyone else in the room began to give a larger applause, except for your group. Everyone was avoiding making eye contact with their respective partners. Well, everyone except for Rin. She was ecstatic beyond belief and was clapping along with the rest of the hall, positively beaming.


	7. Chapter 7

If there was any trace of high spirits between you before, you couldn't find it. Instead, a wave of awkwardness doused the atmosphere in all members of your party; the exclusion, of course, being Rin. She seemed to glow ever more brightly and you could see she was on the verge of tears of happiness.

"Eh. Romance? That's not what I was hoping for." Toriko mumbled, eyeing off Rin as she bounced rapidly on the balls of her feet.

"Maybe there's a catch to it?" You said quietly, still avoiding looking at Coco by any means. You could feel the heat radiating off your cheeks at this point. Juzo's voice boomed out again.

"Yes, tonight we will be celebrating the beautiful act of romance. From new relationships, all the way to true love and everything in between!"

Komatsu had covered his face with both of his hands, shaking his head rapidly.

"Love? No, this is so embarrassing..." he whined.

"We will be offering tonight a range of special preparation ingredients that can only _truly_ be_ e_njoyed by sharing them with your partners. Let love blossom between everyone tonight!"

"That's a broad generalisation." You said, watching as the horde of patrons began to file into the dining room when the doors opened. "Surely, they would have known that not everyone attending would be dating each other, right?"

"The IGO helps organise these events, so they pull out all the stops when planning." Coco said, finally breaking his silence. "They like to make a good impression for their backers to get more funding. I guess theming the banquets is better for fundraising."

"Well, the food should be tasty regardless." Melk offered, a blush still tinting her cheeks. "Don't we all share food together anyhow?"

"That's true." Toriko replied, his arm still being shaken from Rin's incessant bouncing. "It smells amazing in there, so let's just have some good food."

With that, Toriko lead the way, his pure love of eating overcoming his embarrassment. With a shrug, you followed him inside to the next room.

"Hey, Coco?" Sunny probed. "Didn't you know that this what was going to happen?"

"What do you mean?"

Sunny gave him a deadpan look.

"You're a fortune teller, aren't you? Couldn't you have told us that _this_ was going to be happening?"

"I didn't know." Coco said simply.

"Huh? How can you _not_ know?"

"Because I didn't look into it? I'm allowed to be surprised too. What am I, some sort of ham radio?"

Sunny bit back a retort at this.

"Still, you have to appreciate the harmony in this room." The rainbow-haired man said, surveying the scene. Those same red curtains and white linen draped the room and lengths of trestle tables. Dotted between tables of food were Stained Flowers; their petals of stained-glass refracting colours over platters of food that practically glistened under all of the lighting. A small band played sweet jazz music from a small raised stage at one end of the room, while waiters dressed in red and black suits drifted between people, offering samples of foods and drinks to eaters.

Your stomach rumbled with hunger as you drank in the sights around you. You could smell a mix of sweet roses and flowers intertwining with the scent of foods. Toriko was drooling over the food before him. He stopped and sniffed the air like a bloodhound.

"Hang on, I recognise that smell..." he said quietly, trying to locate its origin.

"What can you smell?" Komatsu asked, looking around the room.

"Here we go!" Toriko's voice rose in happiness. "Hey, Komatsu, check it out!"

He picked up a whole plate filled with a green leaf-looking food.

"Ozone grass!" Komatsu exclaimed.

"Ozone grass?" You said, completely lost.

"Yeah, it's a crazy difficult ingredient to get normally." Toriko said, holding the plate out for everyone to take a piece. "The trick is that you need another person to eat it with you at the same time."

With that, he gestured for Komatsu to come over and they both chomped down onto either side of the bright green leaf. Their faces filled with pure joy as they chewed, conveniently blocking out the pout he was receiving from Rin.

"Toriko! Why couldn't _we _have shared it?" She whined. 

"Oh, sorry. Here, try it." He held out a fresh leaf between them and they took a bite at the same time. Rin then shared that same face of happiness.

"Oh, it's so delicious!" She exclaimed. Toriko has his mouth full and he nodded in agreement. "There's so many blends of vegetables in this one bite, and it's so refreshing!"

"Oh, I get it." You said, looking at the Ozone Grass in your hand. "These foods tonight are all designed to be eaten with someone else."

A distinctive deep voice spoke up behind you.

"That's correct!" Juzo said, waddling up to your circle. "We have a variety of dishes that are all dependent on eating with someone of the opposite gender though. Special preparation ingredients that will only taste better when you're eating them with someone else. Of course, we also have lots of other delicious foods available, but they pale in comparison to the others."

Juzo smiled cheekily, waggling his finger to emphasise his next point.

"You won't find out what some of the dishes are unless you try them as well. One of the staff members will then explain what they are afterwards, so don't think you can sneak by without trying them!"

"Oh, so that's why there aren't any placards?" Stella said, and you followed her prompt, only to realise that she was correct. There weren't any name cards in front of the platters.

"Precisely!" Juzo said enthusiastically. "I am more than pleased to see three of the Heavenly Kings in my beloved hotel, too. Please eat to your heart's content and who knows? Maybe there'll be a budding new romance by the end of the evening!"

Juzo gave Komatsu a wink before walking off to mingle with other guests, leaving a very flustered Komatsu again.

"You have to admit, that's pretty clever of them." Sunny said, smiling softly. "Well, Stella, Care to share?"

Stella nodded and mimicked eating the Ozone Grass as they were shown. Sunny's skin practically glowed as he ate the vegetable, his face in bliss. Komatsu and Melk then followed suit, and you gave Coco a little smile.

"Shall we?" You offered, feeling your blush creeping up once again. Coco nodded and you each took a bite; understanding the appeal of the ingredient. In an instant, you felt your body being filled with nutrients with each chew.

"Mmm, this is so yummy!" You exclaimed; eyes closed in immense joy. "I never thought I could enjoy vegetables so much!"

This earned a chuckle from the other group members.

"Obviously you haven't had too many good vegetables then." Toriko joked, mouth still full with his vegetable.

"Nothing like this!"

"Do you think that everything is going to be like this?" Komatsu asked.

"Probably." Sunny said, marvelling at the way his skin was now. "If it's like this, then maybe it won't be so bad?"

"I guess we'll find out." The short man said.

You and Coco opted to continue eating the Ozone Grass, but as you both got closer to the centre stem, you could both feel unease bubbling between the two of you. You were getting uncomfortably close to Coco's face with each new bite, and decided to stop once the tip of your nose brushed his ever so slightly. Coco, on his part, was more worried about if he was inadvertently coating the leaf with his poison. Rin saw the entire process and squeaked with delight.

"Aww, that's _so cute!" _she gushed,clapping her hands together. "I've never seen Coco get so close to someone before!"

Coco gave Rin a look of annoyance.

"Please don't make a scene." He pleaded quietly.

"I'm sorry! But you have to admit, it _is_ a rare sight."

"Well, enjoy it while you can then. Don't expect it to be a common thing."

"Should we try something else?" You said, trying to prevent an argument from breaking out. "Something over there looks tasty."

You pointed to one of the trays being carried from one of the waiters, and flagged him over. He greeted you all with a smile and offered the tray before you.

"Would you care for a drink?" He said.

"Yes please." You said, taking one of the hot mugs carefully and taking a deep whiff. Smells of a rich chocolate wafted out and swirled with a creamy velvet appearance. The others followed suit and grabbed a mug as well, taking in the deep aroma before taking a sip each. The rich beverage travelled down your throat and into the pit of your stomach with a comforting warmth, before the taste of chocolate turned into something very different. You opened your mouth to say something before Rin cut in.

"It tastes like a wedding cake!" she shouted. "Toriko, are we going to get married?!"

"Huh? Why would you think that?" He asked, dumbfounded.

"_That's not it." _ You frowned, staring back into your mug.

"It's like a sweet fruit cake lightly sprinkled with cinnamon!" Rin said, taking another hearty gulp.

"That's not what mine tastes like." Toriko said, just as confused as you were. "Oi, Rin, let me try some of yours."

"Of course!"

She happily held out her drink for him to taste, giddy over the fact that they were sharing yet again. Toriko took a larger sip this time and swallowed, frowning still over it all.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked his navy-haired partner. "It doesn't taste anything like that. It tastes like a birthday cake."

Rin blinked, suddenly dawning on her that things weren't matching up.

"Eh? Are you guys not…?"

The rest of you shook your heads at her, all except for Sunny.

"Ah, that's weird." He said, looking back down at his drink and back up again. "Mine tastes like wedding cake as well."

"See?! I'm not weird!"

"Excuse me," you said to the waiter. "Is there something that we're not doing right?"

"Not at all!" He said chipperly. "That's just how Hot Chocakeolates work!"

"Hot Chocakeolates?"

"Yes. These drinks start off as a simple, yet delicious hot chocolate, but their tastes change depending on the state of your romantic relationships."

You took another sip of your drink, focussing on the flavour it changed into. It tasted like a blend of vanilla with a hint of chocolate, but the tang of acidic vinegar balanced it from becoming too sweet. There was a subtle layer of creaminess underlying the tone, as a brief flash of cream cheese washed over your tastebuds.

"I think mine tastes like… red velvet?" You said, watching as the waiter's smile grew again.

"Ahh, lucky lady. It would seem that you have feelings for someone special, then."

You balked at this comment.

"Ahh, no-" you stammered, trying to suppress the blush from creeping over your cheeks.

"Food doesn't lie." The waiter simply said, a cheeky smile on his face.

"Ooh, (y/n), is it Coco?" Komatsu asked innocently, his curiosity the better of him.

"No, that's not it." You said quietly, cheeks turning beet red.

"Are you sure? You're very red."

"Don't badger her." Coco interjected. "What are the other flavours and what do they mean?"

"There's five flavours in total." The waiter explained. "The first is Birthday Cake, meaning that the drinker has no romantic feelings at all, but they are happy."

You winced at the look of pure rejection on Rin's face, as her worst nightmare was just confirmed in front of her.

"Does that mean-?" Rin squeaked, on the verge of tears. You patted her shoulder sympathetically.

"I guess not. Sorry, Rin." You said quietly, trying to comfort her. Meanwhile, Toriko was oblivious to her anguish as he downed his drink heartily.

"_It's so good!" _he commented, wiping his mouth happily.

"Red Velvet symbolises that the drinker has feelings for someone. Whether or not they have been expressed to the recipient matters not." The waiter continued explaining.

"Third is Pavlova, meaning that the drinker is in a happy relationship with their significant other. Fourth, is a traditional fruitcake Wedding Cake. This means that true love has been felt. Finally, there is Poppy Seed Cake. I pity whoever tastes this flavour."

"How come?" Melk asked.

"It means that they have lost love. It's such a poor thing to experience, to have loved and lost it."

"Does anyone have that flavour?" You asked the group, happy that there weren't any nodding heads.

"That doesn't explain why Sunny's tastes like it does, though." Rin said, having bounced back from her grief from curiosity. "He's not in love with anyone."

"It's probably because he's in love with himself." Toriko quipped, earning a sour look from Sunny.

"Can that happen?" You queried.

The waiter gave a brief moment of hesitation as he thought.

"I suppose if the love they show themselves is strong enough, it's highly possible."

Everyone laughed at this, causing Sunny to glower even more.

"Well, _excuse me_ for thinking good of myself!" he scoffed.

"I don't think it's a bad thing." You said, trying to come to the aid of the Heavenly King. "I have to say, I'm quite jealous of your looks, and your hair is _amazing_. You'll have to teach me how you get it to be so nice."

"Well, thank you." Sunny said, flipping his long ponytail. "It's all about good food and treatment. And I'm sure Stella has her trade secrets."

"You know it!" Stella said, winking at Sunny.

While your group began bantering amongst yourselves, Coco stayed quiet and listened to the conversations crossing over each other, smiling and laughing as the other Heavenly Kings pestered Komatsu and Melk for their flavours. Much to their chagrin, they wouldn't be left alone. Komatsu eventually relented, lying to say his tasted like Birthday Cake, earning more ribbings from his friends. Coco finished off the contents in his mug, watching the last dregs form a ring at the base of the white ceramic.

His tasted like Red Velvet.

Eventually your group had split off into your respective couples, wandering around the room and eating many of the different foods on offer for the event. You found your embarrassment rise with every food you had to share, and you weren't the only one. At times, the tension emanating from Coco filled you with such unease that you offered to look for other foods to eat; preferably ones that didn't rely heavily on intimacy. Unfortunately for you, this proved to be very difficult since the hotel took preference on serving dishes closely related to their theme. You couldn't help but give them kudos for going full force on their theme, though.

You passed a table of bowls that you observed were rapidly running out of stock. Thin, glistening noodles of spaghetti topped off with a pink sauce that glittered were inside, and you felt your stomach growl in anticipation. You picked one up and giggled a little that the sauce was in the shape of a heart. Still, it looked enticing and you took the one of the forks sticking out in hand. You were a little surprised to see that a length of noodle had already been twirled around the metallic tines and took a mouthful. With the way this particular dish was practically walking out by itself, you were a little disappointed at the taste.

"What's wrong?" Coco asked, noticing your disappointment.

"It's a little…bland?" you admitted, biting the long noodle dangling out of your mouth to cut it off. "Here, try some."

Coco took the other fork and copied, disappointment rising behind his eyes.

"I see what you mean." He said, cutting off his bite as well.

"Maybe we're doing it wrong?"

You took a seat at a nearby table, watching some of the other patrons as they ate. You tried scouting for ones specifically eating the same dish, when you noticed that others eaters were both eating from the bowl at the same time, slurping happily.

"Of course." You said with exasperation. "We have to eat it together."

Coco looked apprehensive, but nodded.

"I guess we don't have a choice."

You twirled the piece you had bitten off around your fork as Coco did with his. Once you both had a generous amount wrapped, you nodded at each other and took a bite. This time, your mouth exploded with savoury flavours; combinations of different meats emanating from the sauce while the noodles counteracted with a sweet palate that reminded you of a honey glaze. Your eyes opened wide from the burst of flavour, as you slurped up what felt like the longest noodle in existence. You looked over to see Coco smiling from the taste as he too, kept pulling in a long strand of spaghetti. You started to giggle as you helped guide the noodle past your lips, finding its length humorous. The potency of the flavour remained however, so you kept eating it, too caught up in the flavours it offered.

That was until you noticed the noodle getting shorter, as it unravelled from the bowl in front of you. The strands kept raising higher and higher until there weren't any curls to look at in the bowl. Horrified, you noticed _exactly_ where the end of it was.

Coco had the other end in his mouth.

Your heart flipped out as you realised that if you didn't act soon, there wouldn't be enough length left before your lips would meet. Your body was in conflict; you knew all too well that this would end badly if you continued, but parts of you were screaming to let it happen. On the other side, Coco was trying to think of his own way to break it all off without being rude.

The noodle was disappearing more and more with every second, and you both stared each other down in conflict. Neither of you wanted to take the initiative and you were drawn closer together; your heart beating a bruise on your ribcage. You felt the small, hot rush of air as Coco breathed from his nose before the tips of your noses brushed up again; more prominent this time and you acted on impulse. You cut the spaghetti with your teeth and pulled away, watching the last few centimetres disappear behind Coco's lips. You both stared at each other before averting your gaze.

"Oh, I see you both found the Spaghetti BoLovenaise." A waitress said, coming to collect your empty dish. "Did you enjoy it?"

"It had a lovely taste." You murmured, trying to calm your racing heart.

"It's made with the Unionoodle too." She stated, smiling at you both. "It's an ingredient that only reacts when both ends are being eaten at the same time. Of course, you could just eat them both by yourself, but isn't sharing more fun?"

"You could say that." Coco offered, giving her a smile in return before she walked away to her next task.

"It certainly was tasty." He finished, looking back at you. You were shaking a little with your hands balled into fists on your lap.

"Are you alright? You don't look too good."

"Oh, it's nothing! I'm fine!" you squeaked, the words joining together into one messy sentence.

"Are you sure?"

"Yep! Positive!" You stood up from the table. "I'll be right back, just need the bathroom!"

With that, you scampered off towards the ladies' room, leaving a very confused Coco behind.

Cool water ran over your fingers from the gilded tap over the basin, trying to focus the additional heat in your body to cool down from the sensation.

"_That was too close._" You thought, keeping your hands under the running water. "_What am I even doing?_ _I could have played it off a lot better back there._"

"(Y/N), are you alright?" Rin's voice cut through your reverie as she poked her head into the bathroom. "You've been in here a while, so Coco asked me to check on you."

"Yeah, I'm fine." You said, finally pulling your hand away and switching the water off. "I'm sorry for causing an alarm. Are you having a good time?"

"Yeah, sharing food with my Toriko is great!" she beamed, coming in to talk to you better. "The food here is so tasty too! Have you been eating a lot?"

"Uh, I've had a few things."

"You know," Rin leaned up against the counter of basins. "It's really nice seeing Coco interact with someone else. He's not usually so open about it."

"Yeah, I know. He's pretty private." You said, drying your hands with a warm towel that Rin passed to you from a stack in the corner.

"It's not just that." She said, looking at you with kind eyes. "I've never really known him to get close with anyone, except my brother and Toriko. He doesn't trust a lot of people."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"I guess he never told you, but a long time ago, a team of scientists hunted him down for testing. They wanted to try and research his body to make serums and medicine. He was captured for a long time, so I can't imagine how that would have been like for him."

A mental image of him being chained to a wall in a cell filtered in front of your eyes; faces of pain and anguish on his features. Though you couldn't imagine what he looked like younger, seeing him even in his adult form this way made your blood turn cold.

"That's horrible…" you whispered.

"It was. He was basically treated like a dangerous beast and even put on a high-threat list. It's no wonder he is as aloof as he is."

Rin put a hand on your shoulder and smiled.

"This is actually the first time I've seen him so relaxed around someone that wasn't one of his family. You should feel blessed!"

A smile tugged at your lips as a warm feeling spread throughout your body.

"I guess I do." You smiled back at her.

"Anyways, I'll go let him know you're okay. Don't take too long now!" With that, Rin turned on her heel and made her way back out into the dining room. You quickly checked to see if everything was in order, tucking a loose piece of hair back into place. You also stuck your tongue out for a brief glance and frowned. Those pesky green spots had almost doubled in size on the back of your tongue; much faster than you had known them to. You shrugged, not able to do anything about them now and headed back out into the open.

By this point, many of the guests had eaten their fill and were utilising the dance floor available, coupled off into pairs. This made it easier to find someone you recognised, recognising Toriko's blue hair as a beacon. He was standing with Coco and Rin, chewing on something else. You made a beeline for them.

"Everything alright then?" Coco asked warmly at your arrival.

"Yeah, all good. I just needed a moment." You replied. You glanced at Toriko who had an armful of fruit. "What'cha got there, Toriko?"

"Peachass." He grinned, tossing one to you. "Try them, they're delicious."

You looked at the fruit and let out a snicker. These peaches had fuzzy skin, but what was really interesting was the extra layer of peel that sat over the fruit, like a pair of lacy panties. Each individual fruit had a different coloured set of "underwear", making for a very colourful sight. You bit into yours and felt a wave of juice flood into your mouth, swallowing with delight.

"So good!" you cried, taking another bite, and then another. You had finished it before long, holding the leftover peel in your hand.

"That's edible too." Toriko said, stuffing another one into his mouth in one go. You snickered again, taking a bite of the peel. It tasted like a pressed-fruit snack.

"I never thought I'd be eating panties in my life." You joked, locking eyes with Coco as you did. He raised an eyebrow at you in return and smirked. "You should try some."

"I'll pass." He said, still smirking at you while you finished.

Suddenly, the music from the band swelled into an upbeat groove, turning a lot of heads. Rin tugged at Toriko's arm.

"Come on, Toriko, stop eating and let's dance!" she suggested, much to Toriko's irritation.

"Let me finish first." He said, stuffing the rest into his mouth quickly before being led by a surprisingly strong Rin. You pulled up next to Coco, tapping your foot to the music. An awkward beat passed before you worked up the courage to ask him what you were thinking.

"Do you want to dance?"

Coco blinked at you before sighing.

"Dancing isn't really my thing-"

"Let me guess, you're just worried, right?" You said exasperated, before taking his hand in yours and pulling. He blanched a little at your touch.

"But my poison-"

"I don't care!" you said, pulling him onto the edge of the dancefloor. "It's probably not even as bad as you say it is."

With that, you slipped your hand on his shouler and took his other hand; that cool, soft touch spread over your palms again. Despite his reluctance, Coco shifted himself into a more comfortable stance, hand on the small of your back and began leading you in time to the music.

"I thought you said dancing wasn't your thing?" You queried, raising an eyebrow at him now.

"It isn't." He said bluntly. "But it doesn't mean I'm not _good_ at it."

You gave him a playful swat on the shoulder.

"What else don't I know about you?"

"I assure you, many things."

"Do you want to tell me something then?"

"Not really. I thought we were just dancing?"

"What, you can't do more than one thing at a time?"

"Sure I can."

"Well then, tell me something new about you."

"Hmm." He pondered for a moment, never straying from the beat.

"You've met my brothers."

"Huh? Wait... Toriko and Sunny are your brothers?"

"Yes."

"_No_…really?"

"Yes."

"You don't even look alike!"

"Well, they're technically my adoptive brothers."

"Oh! That makes a lot more sense. Does that mean Rin is your sister, too?"

"No, she's Sunny's biological sister. I don't think it counts with me."

"Fair point."

You cast your eyes over the room, entertained at seeing Toriko and Rin dancing together to the music. For a big guy, Toriko was oddly agile. Rin looked like she was in a heaven. You could hear a small shriek and saw Sunny twirling Komatsu around in circles, while Melk and Stella both watched from the sidelines, talking.

"It's your turn." Coco said quietly, pulling you back into the moment.

"My turn?"

"Didn't we agree to take it in turns sharing information?"

"Ah. Umm…"

You stepped in time to the music as it began to slow, morphing into a new song with a softer tempo. You found yourself in a clinch with Coco, and your heart swelled at the whole concept. You couldn't remember a time before this past month that made you feel this happy; and you could feel your emotions hitting you like a ton of bricks.

"…before tonight…this last month, I couldn't remember the last time I had been treated like a human." You whispered into Coco's chest, avoiding his eyes.

"I can't thank you enough." You breathed, looking up into his soft, hazel eyes. A single tear betrayed you, cascading down your cheek. His eyes widened ever so briefly, before he returned to his sweet smile at you. He held you just that tiny bit closer to his body.

"Let's just have fun tonight, okay?" He said quietly. His words were for you, and only you. He grazed a thumb over your face so quickly, you almost didn't feel it. That could have been for two reasons: one, he didn't want anyone to see, or two, he was afraid of letting too much of his exposed skin on you. He still hadn't quite shaken that fear.

But he was trying.

Having your stomach full of good food left you feeling sluggish and ready for a good sleep, as a yawn broke through your defences. The banquet had begun to wind down, and guests were trawling slowly out of the door for the night, yourselves included. On your way out, Juzo and the other staff members were handing out small gift-wrapped boxes.

"We hope you've enjoyed you time tonight." Juzo said, pressing the small ribboned box into your hands as you were leaving. "Please come back any time."

A small shiver ran down your spine as you stepped out into the brisk night air, your breath misting up in front of you as you waited for Coco to join you. You decided to take a peek at the gift you had been given, opening it up. It was no bigger than a ring box, and you popped the little black box open. Inside was a small, vibrant red pearl. Its outer layer shone under the white lights of the sign of _Hotel Elune_. You gave it a small sniff, but it contained no distinctive odour. There was a small white card tucked into the hollowed lid of the box and you plucked it out to read. Before you could, the sound of footsteps took your attention, and Coco walked up next to you.

"Ready?" He asked, and you nodded.

Coco drew his fingers to his lips to whistle for Kiss, but just as he was about to commit to his whistle, his fingers began to turn that ominous shade of purple again. He stared down at his fingertips in horror as his skin began to pulse with the spreading poison. His eyes widened in even more horror and he fell to his knees.

"Coco! What's wrong?" you cried, trying to take his weight. Unsurprisingly, his weight matched the ratio of his muscles, and you could feel yourself buckling as you tried to support him.

"I can't-" he gasped, his face shifting between shades of lilac and eggplant. You could feel his body heat increasing as it leaked through his formal wear; a far cry different from the cool skin you had felt pressed against yours earlier.

"My poison… I can't…control it…" he panted, looking up at you. This was the first time you had seen any trace of fear in his eyes, and you felt panic rising up inside you.

"_Stay calm._" You commanded yourself internally. "_You're not in a position to panic right now!_"

"Hang on, Coco." You whispered, trying to think of your next step. "I'll get some help."

"No, I'm-" he croaked, before passing out entirely. His limp body caused your legs to buckle again, but you stood your ground. You couldn't whistle like he did, so you had to think of what to do next.

You stumbled over to the kerb and signalled to hail a taxi. You watched as two cars passed you by, but the next one pulled over in front of you. With all of your effort, you wrenched open the door and crawled into the back seat with much difficulty; taking care not to let Coco's face make contact with anything on the way in. You wrapped your hand over his face, ignoring the heat of the poison rippling over his skin. You kept his face covered as you directed the driver to an address you practically spewed out at him.

"Please, hurry!"

The taxi pulled out with a screech and drove into the night. You cradled Coco's head in your lap, feeling his heavy breathing as his skin radiated an unbearable heat.

"Hang in there, Coco." You whispered to him, tipping your forehead onto his and throwing caution to the wind.


	8. Chapter 8

It was fear that stopped you from succumbing to your exhaustion. You were afraid that if you fell asleep, something worse would happen to the half-naked man you had on your lounge. Somehow, barely, you had managed to bring the Heavenly King back to your home, and while you had wanted to make him comfortable on your bed, you could no longer muster the strength to carry him. Apologising again and again, you settled him on multiple layers of blankets and towels over your lounge; anything that you could grab within arms' reach.

Your apologies fell on deaf ears though, as he hadn't fully regained consciousness yet. His skin still discharged that intense heat and his skin still rippled with purples, so you stripped his upper half of his neat clothing. After seeing him wear his bodysuit for so long, you were surprised to see that he had on only a muscle shirt under his collared one, but ultimately decided to remove all his top layers to try and prevent him from burning up as much. You were careful not to damage his clothes and hung them neatly over the end of your dining chair and you looked him over with both awe and sadness. You had also taken his turban off to help his scalp breathe, tousling his soft, raven locks out of his face.

His body was like carved marble; pectorals and biceps shaped by years of training and cut abs that created deep valleys into his stomach. Somehow, his coverings had made him appear a lot lither than he actually was. A lot of you felt awkward, like you were spying on him, but your concern for him overrode that feeling. Even though you expected it to happen, but his poison made waves over his torso and abdominal area as well, you concluded that the same was happening behind his trousers as well, but you weren't about to go there. You soaked a face washer in cool water and applied it to his forehead, flinching at him stirring from its touch. Coco's breathing was still ragged, but there wasn't much more you could do until he woke up. You changed into an oversized hoodie and soft pyjama pants, bundled yourself into a blanket next to the lounge and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Time dragged by as the sound of ticking from your clock broke the silence between the laboured breaths next to you. You periodically reapplied the washer to his forehead with cool water and watched for any signs of change. It was three in the morning before you noticed that the severity of his poison had diminished; his cream skin making breaks between clouds of purple. He had also started to stir a lot more; every twitch snapping your attention before you succumbed to dozing off.

Dawn broke over the horizon before Coco's poisoning had relented. The sun snaked its way across your hardwood floors under the hem of your curtains, bringing with it the unfiltered morning clatters of Gourmet Town. You had finally surrendered to sleep, lightly napping with your head laying a hair's breadth away from Coco's chest. He stirred, his eyes breaking open with a sheer force that the soft golden lighting caused him to blink. He stretched his fingers tentatively before moving to offset the tension in his back; succeeding in almost crushing you under his ribs. You jolted upright when the sound of movement had filtered into your subconscious; both alert and worried.

'You're awake!" You breathed in relief, abandoning your wrappings and checking on him. You instinctively cupped his face as you checked his face over for any traces of poison; oblivious of the fact that you would be touching it if there was any.

"Where am I?" Coco asked as his eyes darted around the room. Nothing about this place was familiar; especially not the large number of bras and lingerie hanging over the indoor clothesline. That was enough to make his cheeks flush red before he averted his gaze. Seeing the flush on his face made your panic rise again.

"Oh no, you're burning up again!" you exclaimed, hoisting yourself up to cool the face washer again.

"(Y/n), wait!" Coco said, instinctively reaching out for your hand before you went off in a tizzy.

"What happened?" He asked quietly.

"Well, we were leaving last night," you began to explain, turning back to face him.

"You went to call Kiss and then your poison began to spread over your body. Everywhere. Then you collapsed on me…so I called a taxi and brought you here. It was the only safe place I could think of. I…"

You trailed off, averting his gaze.

"…I didn't think taking you to a public hospital would have been a good thing; the press would have had a field day if they caught wind of someone like you having an episode. And also…"

You looked back into his soft eyes; sadness cloaked in yours.

"…Rin told me about how you were captured by scientists before… I didn't know if it was too similar and I didn't want you to relapse or something… I'm sorry if I did the wrong thing."

Coco just stared at you speechless, before realising that he still had captured your hand. He let it go abruptly, before noticing that he was half undressed.

"…where are my clothes?"

"Oh, they're hanging up over there- AH!'

You pointed to the chair, only realising now that your personals were out on display. You had left them to dry before going away to Gourmet Fortune just over a month ago. You also realised that Coco had seen them before, which would explain why he flushed red before.

At least they would be dry now.

"Ah…I'm sorry." You sighed, resigning yourself to the fact that they were already seen. They were some of your more _intimate_ styles though, so at least they were nice to look at? You found that Coco seemed to be eyeing off a particularly intense one at the front: a black and gold piece with gold chains dangling from the front cups with small handcuffs on ends that secured them to the bands as well. You shifted to sit back down in front of the lounge and sighed, which broke Coco's stare.

"…How did you get into something like this?" Coco asked softly.

"Desperation, I guess." You answered, hugging your knees to your chest. "I needed money, and I needed it quickly."

"Does this make you happy?"

"…Not for a long time."

Coco looked you over, watching the way your electromagnetic waves shook and spasmed with disarray.

"What were you doing before?"

"Before this? Well, a long time ago I was studying to be a chef… it didn't work out though."

You could almost sense Coco's discomfort as he grappled to think of something to say.

"We're both adults here, it's fine." You said, saving him the trouble. "Some of us just do a different job to everyone else. Besides, it's let me survive for a long time. I suppose I shouldn't complain."

You looked at him and gave him a small, genuine smile.

"I got to meet you, too. I'm thankful for that."

You would never know it, but that odd kick in Coco's heart happened again, confirming his suspicions about himself and the result of his Hot Chocakeolate. Morning had finally broken through and the rabble from the street below bubbled its way into the room as you both sat in silence for a moment.

"Thank you for looking after me." Coco said finally.

"It was nothing. Though, when you said you would come and visit sometime, I didn't expect you to mean in the same night." You joked, watching guilt pass over Coco's features.

"It wasn't my intention, trust me."

"What _was_ that, though? Has that ever happened before?"

Coco shook his head, lost in thought.

"It was strange. I remember coming out to meet you, and then all I could taste was poison on my fingers. There wasn't any reason for me to use it though, so I can't figure it out."

"Was it something you ate?"

"I didn't eat anything different from you-"

His eyes flew open before he jolted upright.

"The pearl!"

"Wait… you mean the gift we were given?"

"Yes! Did you eat it?"

"No, not yet. I wasn't sure what it was yet…hang on."

You moved over to your discarded clutch and pulled out the small black box and propped it open. The pearl shone just as brightly as it had before; its red lustre looked a lot more vivid than it had mere hours ago. You took the white card stashed in the top again and brought it over to read aloud; not before you turned read in the face as you skimmed over the text.

"What does it say?"

"'With love, from all of the staff from Hotel Elune. Please enjoy this gift: a single pearl from the…the…-"

You swallowed the lump in your throat, embarrassed.

"The Aphrodisiaclam.'" You finished.

Coco covered his face with his hands and groaned. You could see the tips of his ears turning pink around his chopped hair.

"That must have triggered it." He mumbled behind his palms.

"So…you're not too good at… umm…-" How were you even going to finish that sentence.

"...I didn't think it would have been that potent." Coco admitted, still hiding his face.

"Why did you eat it to begin with?" You blurted out.

"…I'm still a person." He said, finally lowering his hands; his face filled with sadness. "I thought I would have been home before…"

You raised a hand at him. He didn't need to finish that sentence. You sat down on the floor next to him again.

"Has it… always been that way?"

Coco shook his head, defeated.

"No. Never to that extreme. I mean, I've been…_aroused_ before and plenty of times, but that was something else. Though my poison hasn't ever manifested like that until I…"

He struggled to finish that sentence, keeping his eyes averted from yours. Embarrassment radiated out of him just as much as his heat had before. You tapped your index fingers together, trying to find a solution to his concerns.

"So…did you find this out when it was your first time? O-or before?" You stumbled over your words. This wasn't the discussion you ever thought you would have had with a Heavenly King. True, you'd had a lot of sexual encounters, but this one conversation alone felt taboo. There was a beat of silence before Coco answered.

"…I've never had a first time."

His voice was barely above a whisper before the room fell thick with a silent tension. You could hear a pin drop on carpet, while the clock still ticked away softly on the wall. Your eyes widened at this admission.

"…Never?" you whispered back.

Coco's hazel eyes flicked over you, before he shook his head; his movements barely visible.

"I can't be intimate with anyone, or I will hurt them." He said quietly.

"And I can't change that."

You felt your heart cleave in two over his words. His vulnerability almost reduced you to tears; not because you were afraid of him, but _for _him. Here a man that through all aspects had maintained a cool, yet aloof demeanour in the face of adversity, but sat before you with a broken spirit.

"Surely…-" You began.

"There isn't." He said flatly. "I've researched everything I could get my hands on. Nothing."

"Oh, Coco…I'm so sorry." You croaked, taking his hand in yours. You didn't care about keeping your distance right now; you wanted to give this man some sort of connection, even if it hurt you in the long run.

Coco stared at your connected hands, before a thought struck him.

"(Y/n), you were exposed to my poison, correct?" he asked slowly, his brow furrowing over his thoughts.

"Well, yes? I mean, I wasn't about to leave you in the street the way you were… why?"

"Do you feel okay?"

"Physically yes. I don't understand what you're trying to get at, though."

"You weren't ill at any point?"

"No. I mean, I was sick with worry, but that's about it."

Coco slipped his hand out of yours and stared at it. Something was troubling him, but you weren't completely sure what.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No…no, not at all." He said, looking you in the eye before giving you a smile. "I suppose we should head back though. You still have things to collect."

You took one more look around Gourmet Fortune before you made your way to the train station to properly head home. It looked as though your adventure here was coming to an end, and as you waited for the train to reach the station, a shadow passed over you, blocking out the sun.

"Are you ready, (y/n)?" Coco's mellow voice called out to you. He had since changed into his normal attire, his cape billowing with the breeze and those familiar green wrappings covering him from his head to his ankles.

"Yeah, I think I have everything." You said, gesturing to your luggage bag. "I'm going to be sad to leave this place though."

Coco took a quick glance around the town as well. There was not a soul in sight; citizens inside the safety of their homes. Coco had issued a warning to the town of a foreshadowed monster he had seen in his fortunes. The truth was, he just wanted to see you go without being hassled by townsfolk.

"I'll admit, I'm going to miss your presence here." He said, before pulling out a thick envelope. "This is yours too."

You took it from him and opened it neatly. Inside were stacks of money in neatly bundled piles.

"…I can't take this." You said, sealing it back up and thrusting it back at him. Coco blinked at you and pushed it back towards you.

'We had a contract-" he started, before you pressed a finger to his lips.

"I don't care about the contract anymore." You said, giving it one final push back, and you held it there. You knew full well that you couldn't physically restrain him with your strength, but he wasn't fighting back.

"Getting to know you was worth more than any amount of money. Don't take that away from me… please?"

Accepting his money would make you feel cheap; like this whole experience was just another business transaction. To be fair, it was, but you didn't want to end things this way. It was bad enough that your heart felt heavy and you were on the verge of tears from saying goodbye, but you weren't about to reveal that.

You were a professional…

You were doing your job…

You were in too deep.

You had feelings for Coco.

As you took your finger away, the train rumbled into the station with a mechanical whir. You picked up your bag and rolled it up the steps with you. You turned around and smiled.

"Until we meet again?" You said, your sundress billowing out from the air of the train.

Coco smiled his sweet smile at you, his eyes boring into yours.

"I promise." He said simply.

With that, you turned on your heel and boarded the train. Coco watched your silhouette take place in a window seat before the locomotive roared to life again. As the train pulled from the station, you took his gaze and gave him a small wave, feeling the hole in your heart increase. Coco watched until the engine had chugged along its track out of his eyesight; much longer than the average human's eyes could muster.

He could still feel your warm, soft touch lingering on his lips.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The market was always one of your favourite places to go to. Something about the salty sea air intertwining with the twang of fresh ingredients on display felt wholesome. Between the stalls of fresh foods were also a variety of sellers spruiking their wares. These ranged from between homemade beauty and wellbeing goods, "trash and treasures", jewellery, all the way to antique and vintage goods. You liked to meander through these stalls between your shopping; sometimes you came across some rarity that caught your eye. Today was no exception; an older lady had set up her own small stall with odds and ends she was looking to pass on to new owners. You gave her a smile as you pulled up, pawing through the small pile of books out for sale. Majority of the time these were just standard filler books; outdated encyclopedias, trashy romance novels, or non-fiction books that just didn't pique enough interest to be kept.

Though this time, something made you double take.

You picked up the thick leather-bound book and looked at the title; its fine letters flaking with the old, golden filigree:

_Poisons, Toxicology and The Human Body. First Edition._

Immediately, your mind turned to one person as your heart ached lightly. There had been no communication with a certain King for a fortnight now, and you were beginning to miss him terribly. It was odd, suddenly ceasing all communication with someone that you had spent so much time getting to know. You had expected this to happen, but it didn't stop it from hurting. Still, nothing was stopping you from reaching out to him either; you just hadn't had the time since you had busied yourself with new clients. Despite all of your want to leave this line of work, your savings said otherwise.

Still, you were drawn to this book and leaving it here would feel like a mistake. You exchanged money with the seller and she even wrapped it up for you in brown wrapping and twine; a symbol of both her age and of days gone by, but you appreciated the simplicity of it all. It would make a fine gift, in your opinion. You smiled and hugged it tightly to your chest before stowing it into your satchel; humming to yourself with delight.

It was when you were inspecting a fresh picking of Honey Lemons that a commotion began brewing behind you. You put down the glazed fruits to peek over at what all the rabble was about. Apparently, someone famous had wandered into the market and people were barely keeping their astonishment to themselves. Except, you recognised that blue hair.

"Toriko!" You called, waving your hand about like a flag on a windy day.

The Heavenly King perked his ears up and tilted his head in your direction. He cracked a grin and waved over to you.

"Yo, (y/n)!" He called, perching his hands on his hips as you walked up to him. "Good to see you again!"

"You're looking good too." You said. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Ah, I was just dropping off another bunch of ingredients to my mate Tom." He said, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. Behind him was a wholesaler garbed in whites and sunglasses; a cap perched on top of his long hair.

"I can't take any ingredients from you if they're not here." Tom said, scratching the side of his head.

"Oh, right." Toriko laughed. "Terry's bringing them now."

The ground shook underneath as a white wolf the size of a building dropped in behind the Gourmet Hunter. You jumped back in fright at the sheer size of the creature.

"Holy shit!" You whispered, eyeing off the claws on the wolf.

"Don't worry (y/n)." Toriko laughed again. "Terry won't hurt you. He's a good boy."

"He's _enormous!_" you shrieked, as you were suddenly greeted with a toothy smile from Terry; his fangs glistening.

"Yeah, he's pretty big. But he's only a pup still."

"_That's a puppy?!"_

"For a Battle Wolf, yeah."

Your mouth gaped open and shut like a goldfish as you stared at the mammalian beast. Your entire knowledge of the Gourmet Age seemed to be crumbling with every day. Toriko then hoisted a few large sacks from off of Terry's back and handed them to Tom, who wasn't at all surprised at the creature in front of him.

'Anyways," Toriko's deep voice pulled you out of your reverie. "How are things with you? I didn't see you leave the other night from the banquet. Did you have a good time?"

"Oh right." You said, recalling the night from a few weeks ago. "Yeah, it was a lot of fun. The food was good, when I managed to eat it properly."

You then recalled the incident with Coco at the end of the dinner, and you wondered if maybe you should bring it up with Toriko. The poison at least, not the reason behind it. Maybe there was something else that triggered a response like that for him though.

"Yeah, it was a pretty good feast, if I do say so myself." Toriko said, jumping down from Terry's back. "That reminds me, how is Coco doing?"

"Well, I wouldn't know really." You admitted, a little dejectedly. "I haven't spoken to him since then."

Toriko eyed you off with his sharp eyes, letting out a _hmm_ as he thought.

"To be honest, I'm actually headed over to see him once I'm finished up here. Did you want to come?"

Your heart skipped a beat at his offer as your lips pulled into a broad smile.

"Really?! Oh, wait… I can't." You said as your smile faded. You had a client to deal with tonight, and they were a high paying one too; one that was paying extra for sexual favours from you. You didn't want to take it, but you needed the extra money right now. Just thinking about it made your stomach turn.

"Ah? Why not?"

"I have some…errand to run later today. They're important." You said sadly. "Please apologise to him for me, would you?"

"That's too bad. He probably would have liked to see you."

"What makes you say that?"

"Intuition."

"Oh."

You then remembered the gift that was safely tucked away at your side. You gasped before pulling it out.

"Actually, Toriko, can I ask a favour of you?" You asked, holding the parcel out to him. "Could you give this to Coco please? I'd be truly grateful if you did."

Toriko's took the parcel from you with one of his large hands.

"Yeah, sure. Since I'm going there." He said, giving you a grin again before jumping up on Terry's back.

'Well I better get going. See ya next time!"

With a powerful leap, the two cleared the entirety of the market in a single jump, and you watched as the white Battle Wolf ran and bounded out of sight; both of them leaving just as quickly as they had entered. When they were gone, you returned to finish your shopping before heading homeward bound. You had almost forgotten about your responsibilities for tonight, making you pull a sour face at the thought of it all.

This customer was someone you had done business with before, and thinking about him made your insides squirm. He was a large, foul brute of a human that towered over you physically, and he used that to his advantage. While he hadn't necessarily broken any of your rules, he knew that he scared you deep down and wasn't shy about making sideways threats towards you. He had purchased your complete services before and it was difficult for you to find even some a small iota of enjoyment being with him. This made any sort of sexual intimacy from you incredibly taxing, because it was simply painful for you. There was "being rough" with someone, but then there was _being rough,_ and you dreaded to think what this evening's pleasantries were going to be like.

Still, you had a job to do, and you wiggled out of your day clothes into your chosen outfits for tonight. Seeing as tonight was going to be centred on sex, you gave it your best critical eye for lingerie. You couldn't help but think back to how different it all was to have dressed for Coco and his banquet what seemed like so long ago. How you wished to go back in time to relive that experience again, and to feel that happiness again. You smiled softly at how nice it felt to not only look beautiful, but to have _felt_ beautiful as well. You'll never forget the experience of being held close as you danced the night away in the arms of someone so gentle.

Someone out there would love you for who you were.

Someday.

Bass pounded through the walls from the room over and rattled deep in your bones, while you were busy being crushed underneath a suffocating weight. Hefty grunting passed deep into your ears are you staved off making any noises of displeasure in front of your client. Every thrust, every forceful push was causing you severe pain but he remained oblivious to your agony. You gritted your teeth and forced out a false mewl of desire, fully intending to keep up appearances to Nendou; the hulking mass of brawny sweat that was currently trying his best to cleave you in two, it seemed.

"Mmm, you're _so good_, Nendou sir." You lied, trying your best to get the whole thing over with. You knew that once he had climaxed, he would be down for the count for the rest of the night. Despite his need to brag about how powerful a man he was, sexual potency was an area he scored very low in.

"I know you like this, don't you?" Nendou grunted; his halitosis making your skin crawl and you pulled a face. Thank the heaven's this room was dark and he had his face buried into the crook of your neck.

"Of course, _baby_. You know I only like the good stuff…"

Every second made you want to vomit. As soon as this was over, you could go home and take a well-deserved shower. Nendou, however, seemed like he was struggling to finish the job tonight, and was resorting to all manner of different positions and to try and get his load off. You had been flipped over and lunged into from almost every angle imaginable, and his squat girth was beginning to take its toll on your sensitive areas. Lost in his cloud of lust, he sunk his yellowing teeth into your soft flesh which caused you to cry out in pain and you pushed him away from you.

"_Stop!_" You cried, separating yourself from him and crawling away. "That's a rule violation, and you know it!"

He didn't like that. Not one bit.

Nendou dragged himself over to you and proceeded to cuff the back of his hand over your face. You howled at the blow and pressed your hands over the eye that had just been assaulted.

"Listen here, you little whore." He growled vehemently at you, grabbing your hair by the base of your skull and pulling it sharply. "I've paid for this little session of ours, and I'm going to do whatever I want; _however_ I want until I'm satisfied. _Got it?!"_

You tried to respond to him, but all that came out was a broken crackle of your voice. You could feel heat swelling over your injury and blood beginning to throb underneath your skin from it. Tears leaked out from your eyes in small rivers and down your cheeks.

"Good." He whispered, before tugging down on your hair again. His fingers gripped your head and held you in pace while he forced his length into your mouth; controlling the speed at which you dragged your lips and tongue over him. You were choking over the whole ordeal but you couldn't stop it. You felt the urge to bite him back, but you were fearing for your safety at this point. You forced down the bile that was making its way up your throat. This power display seemed to be the tipping point for him however, as thick ropes of seed spurted into your mouth and you forced yourself to swallow it.

"You're a good little slut." He finished, wiping a calloused thumb over your chin to take away the residue, before roughly discarding you to the side while you spluttered and coughed. He threw wads of money at you before redressing himself.

"Clean yourself up and get the fuck out of my sight."

With that, he left the room into the neon lighting of his personal nightclub. House music blared through the open door before being muffled again as it closed. Weeping, you gathered your clothes, redressed and collected your payment before slipping out a second back door into the alleyway. Your eye was swollen, and your soul was broken, and you began stumbling towards home; jelly-legged and defeated.

A soft lantern burned in Coco's bedroom as he thumbed through the pages of a book that was gifted to him earlier today. He had hugged it close to his chest before laying over his bed, drinking in as much information as his eyes would read from the aging pages. His mind, however, kept drifting to thoughts of you; the way your eyes had sparkled with delight in his company, and the genuine purity of your smile.


	10. Chapter 10

Under absolutely no circumstances were you leaving home. Not for anything. Even though your stocks of food had dwindled down to nothing more than rations of Colour Rice and simple water, you refused to leave the safety of home. Not until the gross green and purple welt of your black eye had dissipated, but from the looks of it, that could still be weeks away. Still, after a few weeks, you weren't going to go anywhere. Not for anything or anyone.

It had taken three days before the swelling had gone down enough for you to see out of your right eye again; the small break enough for your (e/c) eyes to peek out from underneath a mass of weeping skin gave you an iota of relief. Too bad you couldn't say the same about how it felt; the bruising from Nendou's ogre-like hands had really done a number on your face. A ring he had been wearing had also left a deep scratch just under your eyelid as well, which had openly bled numerous times over those seventy-two hours.

You had ignored the pile of letters at the base of your door; normally you would be jumping on them as soon as you could but you didn't feel motivated enough to retrieve them. Instead, they were slowly gathering higher as the days progressed, and you had ignored the rapping on your door from whoever it was on the other side when it happened. You figured it was just the landlord chasing up monthly rent like clockwork. He wasn't a bad person, he just had his routine that he liked to stick to. If he came by again, maybe you would speak to him through the wooden barricade and assure him that he would get his money soon. You had always paid on time, if not earlier, so he didn't pester you like he did with other tenants.

It was _because_ of your consistency that he had grown worried about your state. Unbeknownst to you, he had just been climbing the main staircase back to his room when he witnessed you staggering back home the other night. Your languid steps had caused him enough concern that he considered calling for help from authorities, but he didn't want to pry into matters that weren't his own. Perhaps you had just had too much to drink; it was night time after all, and your face had been concealed in harsh shadows from the curves and angles of the building. He had begun to grow increasingly more anxious when you hadn't left your home since, and passing by, he could hear the sounds of soft weeping permeating through the walls, so he came by every day to check on your wellbeing. Not that you ever answered him though, but he would keep trying.

Today was no exception, and as he made his way downstairs, he was surprised to find another figure standing outside of your door. A tall man, covered in wrappings of green and a heavy cloak across his shoulders. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Excuse me sir," he asked, taking the final steps with his broad legs. "Are you here to see the young miss?"

The stranger turned around and gave the landlord a welcoming smile.

"Hello there. Yes, I was wondering if she was home?"

"Goodness. Forgive me for asking, but are you Heavenly King Coco?"

The landlord breathed a small sigh when Coco nodded his head.

"You wouldn't happen to be friends with her, would you?" He asked Coco, a troubled look on his face.

"Yes, I believe so. Is something the matter?"

Letting out a deep sigh, the other man rubbed a hand over his balding head.

"I noticed the other night she seemed a little…_off_ when she came home." He explained, trying his best to sound impartial. "From my understanding, I don't believe she's left here since, but it's unlike her not to go out at all."

Coco's eyes had clouded over with his own fears, but he kept up his stoic façade.

"I see." He said, turning back to stare at the wooden door.

"Has there been anyone coming here?" Coco questioned, still looking at the door. Truthfully, he was looking past the chipped paint and flecks of dirt to see if there was any trace of your electromagnetic waves. He could make out the distinct colour of your waves, but didn't like how they lulled about like a thick cloud.

"I haven't seen anyone else come to visit." The landlord said. "In fact, you're the first one. I've tried checking in on her just to see if she's okay, but she hasn't answered me."

His mouth drooped and Coco noted the genuine concern he had for you. He was thankful to hear that you hadn't been conducting any business in your home, but it troubled him to find out that you hadn't been seen for a long time.

"You don't think you could coax her out, do you?" The landlord said, twiddling his fingers as he said so. "Maybe hearing someone she's close with might make her feel better."

"I'll keep trying," Coco said, turning back to give the other man his thanks. "I appreciate that there was someone looking out for her in the meantime."

"Oh, it's nothing. She's been nothing but a good tenant, and a good person over the years."

"I'll be sure to let you know if I have any progress."

With that, the landlord nodded and began making his way back up the stairs, leaving the Heavenly King to his own devices. Coco knocked on the door softly.

"(Y/n)? Are you home?" he called out, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself.

Silence returned his call.

He knocked again, still just as softly as before.

"(Y/n), could I come in?"

Silence.

A beat of silence passed before he cleared his throat. He was going to try again before he heard the soft thuds of footsteps on hardwood floors.

"Just a second." He heard you call flatly; your words muffled by walls. "I have the rent money here. I'm sorry for not-"

The door pushed open slightly with a soft creak and your small hand poked out with a small envelope addressed to the landlord.

"-getting it to you sooner." You finished. You peeked out just barely behind the crack in the door frame before you flinched as a cool softness enveloped your hand entirely.

"What are you-" you started, before jumping at the sight of the person before you.

"…Coco?" you whispered.

"Hey (y/n)." He said quietly, as you looked down to see he had wrapped both of his hands around yours. 'It's been a while."

You wanted to sink through the floorboards right now. Never had you expected to be seeing him again, especially not after what happened to you, but you knew better than to shut him out after he had travelled all this way.

"Is it okay if I come in?" he asked, removing his hands from yours. Internally, you begged for his contact again.

"Umm… sure." You said softly, stepping away from the door to grant him entrance. You didn't have the courage to open it yourself, so you waited for him to take the initiative. He pushed it open gently and the smile on his lips dropped the moment his eyes fell on you. In the blink of an eye, he had shut the door and began cradling your face and checking it over.

'What happened?" he said, malice tainting his tone.

"I fell…" you lied, weakly. You mentally slapped yourself. What was the point of lying? He could see right through you; literally.

Coco locked eyes with you and stared you down with an arched eyebrow.

"Please don't lie to me, (Y/n)." he said bluntly, making mental observations of the bruising of your black eye. Half of your eye was also a vibrant crimson; a burst blood vessel no doubt.

"I-I…fell… r-really." You stuttered, blinking and looking away. "I-I tripped, and…"

Your internal dams crumbled and your broke down into sobs, falling to your knees and crying into your palms.

"I-I'm… I'm a…" You choked, trying to force down a lungful of air between your sobs. You tried to continue talking but you were encircled by strong arms that pulled you in close. Underneath your cries and chokes, you could hear the thrumming of Coco's heartbeat. It was strangely forceful. You cried into his chest, letting a wave of pent up emotions flood out into the open. Coco was sitting on the floor against the couch he was so familiar with. He changed nothing about his stance as you wept freely. The only thought plaguing him was his conviction to find out what happened to you, but he would let you be for the moment.

Hearing you cry made his heart twist in an uncomfortable way. He hadn't ever experienced this feeling before, but he could only describe it as his heart trying to tear itself apart. He ran his hand gently through your (h/c) locks and pulled you closer to him; almost like he wanted to squeeze the pieces of you back together. A quiet rage burned behind his irises.

Soft ticking permeated the quiet room between your cries, and little by little you pulled yourself into a bearable state. Rivers of tears slowed to quiet drizzles before stemming completely. Your breath rattled with every deep gulp of air as you calmed down.

"I'm sorry." You said, barely above a whisper. "I didn't want anyone to see me like this."

"(Y/n), what happened?" He probed again gently, cradling you still.

"…I got hurt." You said, talking into his chest still.

"I can see that… you weren't working, were you?"

You nodded, ever so lightly. That quite rage began to blaze through Coco's soul.

"Who hurt you?"

You pulled away from his chest and shook your head, still averting his eyes.

"I can't tell you that." You stated.

"Why not?"

"Contractual obligations."

You could see the muscles in his jaw pinching at that.

"You need to tell me. Please."

"I _can't!_" You implored to him.

"Why not?!"

"Because I have a _responsibility_ to adhere to my policies."

"This is different! This is assault!"

"What exactly could you do about it? It's happened already, and besides, my line of work isn't _exactly_ completely legal."

You could practically feel the tension emanating from Coco's body. You pulled away from his embrace and curled up next to him with your knees to your chest.

"Besides…" you started softly, staring at the floor. "What if someone wanted information about you? You can't just pick and choose who gets outed and who doesn't."

Coco understood your words, but it didn't quell the fire inside of him. There hadn't been many times where he had _wanted_ to hurt anyone, only when he felt his own life was in danger, but this was different. It was like a monster inside of him wanted to rip someone apart, and he had to force himself to calm down. He took a deep breath and balled his hands and flexed them multiple times; a trick that he had taught himself when he was younger to detain his thoughts.

You both sat in silence for a while, lost in your own respective minds. You occasionally hiccupped and tried to stop sniffling, but inside your stomach was cold.

"I'm sorry for making your clothes wet." You apologised quietly, trying to force a smile his way.

Coco let out a single laugh of derision.

"It's really not a big deal." He said dismissively, before looking over at you again.

"Have you been to the doctor?" He asked, eyeing off your wound again.

You shook your head, bracing for a verbal repercussion.

"Going would have meant admitting how I got it and who gave it to me… I couldn't afford to do that."

You curled into your knees and hid your face from view, before mumbling out another sentence.

"…I'm such a screw-up."

"No, you really aren't." He responded, brushing some rogue strands of your hair and tucking them behind your ear. A crop of goose bumps erupted over your skin from his airy touch. Meanwhile, you kept your head tucked away, out of fear of looking up to see disappointment across his handsome features.

"I think you…" he said, looking out into empty space. A thick lump had formed in his throat, and he found himself struggling to finish his sentence.

"You think what?"

"…I think you…should go and pack some things." He said, repressing what he actually wanted to say. Maybe now wasn't the right time.

"Huh? Why?" This was enough to pique your interest and you looked at him confused.

"I think you should spend some time away from here. Maybe you could come and… spend some time with me?"

You blinked at Coco, and how uneasy he seemed to be. A hint of reserved embarrassment settled on his face; a look that you didn't think he was capable of producing.

"…are you really asking me to come home with you?" You asked, arching your eyebrow at him.

"I suppose you could put it that way…"

You thought for a moment before pulling yourself up and traipsing off to your room. Coco watched you as you walked away, trying to settle the hammering in his heart again. He could hear the sound of drawers and wardrobes opening and shutting intermittently.

Clearly, that was a yes.

"What's this?" You asked, as a steaming bowl of hot food was gently placed in front of you. Steam flickered lazily into the air before dissipating without a trace. Your mouth began to salivate with want as scents of spice bit at your nose.

"Curing Curry." Coco said, taking a seat at the table opposite you. "I've had to make it a lot over the years."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. You can probably imagine how battered the four of us had been when we were younger. I haven't had to make it as much as an adult, but it's still something I'm proud of."

"I'm guessing you guys had quite a rough childhood."

You scooped a decent amount onto your fork and blew on it before popping it into your mouth; savoury juice oozing out of tender pieces of meat, coupled with the crunch of fresh organic vegetables. As you chewed, you could feel your eye tingling; hidden medicines and nutrients from the food beginning to work wonders on you. You listened to Coco as you started to hoe into the bowl of food with ravenous movements; you hadn't eaten properly for weeks.

"It was rough in the beginning, but we used to train a lot for the most part. Toriko and Zebra were the ones that usually ended up the worst, so I ended up looking after them."

You swallowed the last of your curry, a content warmth spreading through your being as your face still tingled. Having a full stomach again felt so foreign to you.

"Didn't you guys have parents?" you asked, sighing contentedly and pushing the bowl away from you.

"Not in the traditional sense," Coco mused, resting his cheek on his hand. "For the most part, we were left to our own devices, so I just fell into the big brother role, I guess."

"That seems like a lot of responsibility for someone so young."

"Well, I am the eldest. I suppose that's natural?"

"Mmm… I guess." You thought, holding your head in your hand and surveying the room around you.

Coco's house was increasingly similar to the shop he maintained in Gourmet Fortune; the same style of stone that made his house of fortune also up the walls of his house. The roof was rounded off as well, and there was an attachment built into the side that looked like a silo from the outside. In truth, it was a narrow staircase that split off into two upstairs rooms. You hadn't had much of a tour of his house, but the best word you could describe it with was _quaint_. There was a much more minimalist feel to it all, the only 'luxuries' you could ascertain was his shelves of jars that housed more of the same unknown items back at his fortune house. You believed that some, if not most of them, were different forms of ingredients or spices, seeing as he had accessed a couple of them when he made you your food. The strangest thing, however, was that his dining table only had three chairs to it instead of four. When you first set foot into his home, this was the thing that immediately caught your eye. The whole set up radiated '_business_', with its two chairs facing one solitary one adjacent to each other. At least the windows let in a calming natural light.

"I like your home." You said, giving him a smile. Even with the grotesque welt that was your eye, you started to feel a little more relaxed.

"Thank you. I don't have many visitors, so I apologise for the mess."

Your eyes scanned the room, looking for whatever 'mess' he was referring to. Compared to your place, his home made yours look like an absolute sty. The only thing you could see that seemed 'out of place' was a book by the kitchen counter; a feather sticking out of it towards the centre as a bookmark. You recognised that binding.

"Oh, was the book any good?" You asked, wandering over to pick it up and have another look at it.

"Yes. It has a lot of new information in it I wasn't aware of. Thank you, you didn't have to do that."

"It was no trouble. I…saw it and I thought of you…"

You trailed off, flicking through the pages and skimming your eyes at the inked sketches on the parchment. It looked interesting enough that you might even look through it some time. You set the book back down before turning back to him, hoping that your cheeks weren't pink anymore.

"So, do I get a tour of the house?"

Coco chuckled and stood up from his seat.

"You're welcome to go anywhere in here. Well, except for the bedroom at the top of the stairs. I haven't quite tidied it up for your arrival yet."

"So even this place has a guest room?"

"Not quite. It's my room."

You flinched at his comment.

"Eh? Your room? Why would I be staying in there?"

Coco blinked at you, dumbfounded.

"Because that's the only bed I have? I'll sleep on the lounge."

"No. No way you're doing that." You waved your hands at him while shaking your head multiple times. "I'm not kicking you out of your own bed _in your own house_!"

"But-"

"_No buts!' _You chided. "Trust me, the lounge will be fine for me. It's more than what I deserve right now."

Coco pondered a thought before answering,

"I'll let you have the lounge," he began, watching a smug smile form on your lips.

"_Only_ if you stop talking down about yourself."

You were taken aback by his comment, and you looked away sheepishly.

"…Fine. I'll try." You relented, rubbing your left arm guiltily.

"Good." Coco said simply, before opening the door to the stair way. "I'm going for a shower. Please, make yourself at home."

With that, he swiftly turned on his heel and ascended the stairs, leaving you alone in his house. You looked around, suddenly apprehensive of leaving your spot in the kitchen. You pulled along your bag and trundled quietly into the next room over, laying eyes on your soon-to-be-bed. The lounge looked plump and soft, and very inviting. Definitely only really fit for one person though, not that you expected a love seat of some sort to be in a perpetual-bachelor's home. You gave a small smile and appreciated the number of bookshelves lining the walls; each one filled with copious amounts of books of varying subjects. Clearly, Coco was more attributed to intellect, rather than just sheer brawn. This would explain his level-headedness to almost every situation.

You sat on the lounge with a loud sigh, the weight of the day suddenly bearing down on you. You curled up onto your side, letting the soft fabric swallow you into its folds as your eyes started to droop. Before long, you were lulled into a sweet sleep, dreaming of nothing for once.

Hot, coursing water poured over Coco's body; travelling down all of his crests and valleys that his large muscles gave his form. Fatigue pawed at his psyche as he leant on the wall inside his small cubicle. Inviting someone to share his living space took a lot more courage and effort than he cared to admit, even if it _was_ you that came home with him. The entire journey home on Kiss had him lost in his own thoughts, some even twisting into stimulating arousal at the presence of your touch once again. It was taking quite the toll on him to prevent succumbing to his thoughts and desires.

His thick poison began running off of his body in droves and swirling down away into the drain below. He referred to this process as shedding, since it helped him alleviate some of the build-up of poisons manifesting in this body. Even though he was used to the procedure, it still caused him pain to do it. He gritted his teeth and let out a small grunt as the next wave left his skin, gasping lightly for a breath after it was secreted. Frowning, he stared at a spot on his chest that was behaving rather bizarrely.

Coco _knew_ the ins-and-outs of his body, especially when it came to his poisons, so he couldn't understand _why _an area of his chest refused to succumb to his ripples of purples. He let out the last set of poison for the night; his light skin around his heart stayed solid throughout this entire process.

His patch of skin happened to coincide perfectly with the area you had wept on earlier.


	11. Chapter 11

You stirred awake, feeling a heavy softness enveloping your body as well as a comforting squishiness underneath your heavy head. With bleary eyes, you blinked and pulled yourself up into a sitting position. A blanket, green of course, cloaked your form and a pillow had somehow managed to appear under your head. You smiled, knowing full well who put those there for you, but you wouldn't be able to pinpoint the moment that they got there. You slept for hours, well until to the early afternoon of the following day, and for once, your body felt rested and even relaxed.

The warmth of your small nest tried to coax you back into a tranquil slumber, but it was late enough in the day and you didn't want to seem like a complete sloth. With a series of satisfying pops and clicks down your spine as you stretched, you peeled yourself away from the lounge and scrounged in your bag for a fresh outfit. Something comfortable, yet would pass well out in public. You had spent too long in your laziest outfits, and you finally felt better mentally to _want_ to wear something else. You took a brief look in a small compact mirror, gasping at the way your eye had healed overnight. There wasn't a trace of your existing injury at all, and you poked at your face with wonder.

Your ears pricked at a muffled sound from outside. It sounded like heavy breathing, and your concern spiked. You walked over to the front door and quietly snuck through it, in case there was some sort of danger approaching. You peeked around the curved edge of Coco's house, careful to not make any noise. Your fright ebbed away once you surveyed the scene. Kiss had nested next to one of the large trees that took up residence on the lonely plateau, looking out over the scenery contentedly. His sharp, crimson eyes locked onto you the moment you were in his field of vision, but he then closed his eyes with a serene look. The heavy breathing you had heard wasn't imaginary.

You couldn't help but marvel at the fluidity of Coco's movements. He had his back to you and was moving through a series of smooth exercises. It reminded you of tai chi, and you continued to watch him, almost mesmerised. From the harshness of his breath, he must have been out here for a while. As he moved through his set, he then began adding different forms of techniques; ducking and weaving before returning to more offensive positions. You stepped out from behind the wall and tiptoed quietly over to Kiss, patting his beak gently as you continued to watch.

Coco continued to practice through his form, changing from unarmed combat to using different weapons fashioned from his poisons. Whether he had felt your presence already didn't deter his concentration. With a steely gaze, he continued on with his training; pulling a sharp bow and arrow from seemingly nowhere as he moved. His actions had an air of grace, despite the driving power behind them. He pulled the singular arrow back across the bowstring and locked his target. If you blinked, you would have missed how quickly the arrow flew from his hand and landed its purchase with a swift _'thwip'._

Bullseye.

His goal was the complete centre of a target, suspended on the trunk of another tree. The target itself was on a furry-looking spread; like a blanket painted with a circular target. You let out a soft series of applause, the sound causing the King to jump a little with surprise. He turned to your direction and grinned sheepishly.

"You're awake. I didn't hear you." He said, his bow melting back into his palm while the arrow melted to the ground. You noticed the grass at the base of the tree was dead and yellowed.

"I guess you don't share the same ears as Toriko, then?" You joked, tucking your hands behind your back.

"No, but I rather like what I can see." He quipped, causing a light blush to cross your cheeks. Of course, he noticed this and tried to correct himself.

"Wait, I mean-"

"Don't worry about it!" You laughed, crossing over to him. You could hear his panting clearly now. "I'll take it as a compliment."

"If the shoe fits." He said, turning away with mild embarrassment.

"That was impressive." You remarked, pointing at the target to change the subject. "Could you teach me to shoot like that?"

Coco blinked at you.

"Probably not immediately." He admitted, trying to broach it as kindly as possible. "Have you ever had any practice at archery before?"

"Nope."

"Oh. Hmm."

Coco rested his hand on his chin and thought, before wandering off without a word. You blinked at him owlishly, wondering exactly what he was doing that left you standing on your own.

"_Did I say something wrong?" _you thought, rubbing your arm nervously.

You watched him walk around to the front of his house and heard the door open and close. Your eyes darted about as a small breeze licked at your skin. You looked back over to Kiss, who had watched his master just as intently as you had been. You patted your sides with your hands and rocked on the balls of your feet, wondering exactly what to do. Did you follow him? Did you wait for him to come back? Should you ask him what you had done wrong?

With a drawn-out puff of air, you wandered over to the practice tree, inspecting the target that was nailed into the springy trunk of the tree. You breathed out a small _'wow'_ of amazement, noticing that the targets centre had barely any holes around it. Instead, there was a singular hole that was ever so slightly off-centre of its line of symmetry; concluding that this was the _only_ spot on the goal that had ever been pierced from the arrow's head. You shook your head at the thought. Coco's aim must be _dangerously _accurate to only ever hit that mark over and over again.

"Everything okay?"

Now it was your time to jump in surprise and you whirled around, almost grazing your nose against his chest. You definitely didn't hear the door or hear his footsteps approach you so close from behind. Glancing your eyes down, you noticed he had a thin, wooden bow in one hand and a small quiver of arrows in the other.

"I was just looking at your work." You stuttered, looking up again and drowning in his irises. This close, you could see small speckles of darker shades of brown within them, and the ring around his iris melted into a deep chocolate colour. You bit your lip unconsciously as you stared up at him.

"You're…really good." Was all that you managed to get out, the tips of your ears turning a soft red.

Coco let out an airy laugh before breaking off your gaze.

"I don't normally have spectators." He said, before handing the quiver out for you to take. You were thankful for the distraction, and looked the holster over, trying to sling it over your shoulder into a comfortable position. Coco watched you with amusement.

"Here." He said, taking it back before slinking his arms around your waist and securing the buckles together tightly. Feeling his arms brush over your waist set your mind reeling, and you were finding it difficult to concentrate properly.

"Now, I don't have to show you which way this goes?" He smirked, holding the bow out for you.

"_No." _You snapped at him playfully, taking the weapon from him and feeling it over. Its sleek finish felt nice under your fingers.

"Okay, now let's come back a little bit," he said, calling you over to a small distance away. "Show me how you think you do it."

"O-okay." You stuttered, your heart fluttering from nerves now. You took an arrow from the quiver and held it up against the string and pulled back into a stance you had seen on television. You were pinching the arrows end with your fingers and getting a slight ache from trying to hold it in place. A cool hand rested on your arm and pulled it down, and you saw Coco trying to stifle a laugh.

"Not…quite." He said, wincing a little at your attempt. "I admire your enthusiasm though."

This time you were red out of embarrassment.

"What did I do wrong?"

"…A lot. But that's okay; you haven't done this before. First thing we're going to do is nock the arrow."

"Knocking? Like how hunters stun prey?"

"'Nock', with an 'n'. This part here on the back slips into the string, see?"

His fingers pulled the end of the arrow onto the string firmly, lining it up with a small section at the front of the bow. That answered your question about how arrows seemed to magically stay in place.

"That makes a lot of sense." You relented, realising just how silly you must have looked before.

"Next, you want to turn to the side and put your feet about shoulder-width apart. Make it a nice strong stance."

Your feet complied with his soothing voice before you even realised what you were doing. You didn't even shuffle your feet in different spots either; something internally was telling you that you were in the correct position. Coco gave a light push to your back to test your balance, and you swayed back and forth effortlessly to return to your position.

"Very good!" He said, giving you a sweet smile. You smiled back up at him in response.

"Okay, so you want to raise your bow before you pull the string back. The best way is to use three fingers; one above the arrow and two below. Don't be frightened."

You drew the string backwards, feeling the difference in the tension this time around. You worried that the string would bounce back and slap into your other arm.

"Rotate this elbow out." He said, gently guiding the crook in your arm holding the bow. This small difference made your grip feel stronger already. Coco moved to the other side, facing you parallel now.

"We're going to use your mouth as an anchor." He said, moving your shooting hand close to your face.

"Excuse me?"

Coco laughed lightly, and you could feel his breath grazing ever so slightly by your neck. You wanted to shiver at the sensation, but you kept your cool.

"It's just a point of reference." He explained. "You'll want to return back to this point when you're shooting as a beginner."

"Oh."

"Now, focus on where you want the arrow to end up. When you're ready, let go."

You took a deep breath and tried to envision the arrow hitting the bullseye. You knew that it wouldn't get there, but you tried to will it to sail perfectly in line and impress Coco with some imaginary talent you had. You exhaled and let go of the string. To your surprise, the arrow flew in a wonderfully straight line.

Straight past the tree and sailing over the edge of the cliff.

"Oh no!" You gasped, bringing a hand to your mouth while the other dropped the bow at your side. You looked back at Coco with wide eyes.

"I'm sorry! I wasted the shot."

'Don't worry about it." Coco said, as a large gust of wind blew both his and your hair to the side. Kiss had flapped his large wings and shot off down the side of the plateau with incredible speed. In a flash, Kiss had pulled back up to the land, arrow firmly in his beak. He tipped his beak towards Coco who took it from him and patted his friend with thanks.

"Good boy, Kiss." Coco said sweetly, while Kiss crowed out and nested back in his spot. "See? Not a problem."

"I didn't realise how fast he was." You said, awe washing over you again.

"He's still young. He'll grow bigger and get faster. Now, shall we try again?"

You nodded, and pulled another arrow out from the quiver. You set it on the string like you were shown and prepared your stance one again. Coco watched you set your form up again, but found his eyes travelling over the curves of your body more than supervising your shot. His stomach bubbled up with excitement and his heart flipped out behind his ribcage. He tore his eyes away from your figure and instead focused on looking at your face.; watching the way your (e/c) eyes fixed with concentration. He had seen that look before; like the way Gourmet Hunter's would become fixated on their hunt.

Or, even the way he had caught himself looking at you sometimes.

You took another deep breath and steadied yourself more this time. You moved your hand a fraction to straighten your shot and exhaled as you let go. The arrow let out a smaller '_thwip_' than the one Coco's had made, but it sailed cleanly before sticking into the target. It was nowhere near the centre, but it at least sat in the outer ring.

You let out a small cry of joy and chanted "_I did it!_" a couple of times. You threw your arms around Coco's neck and pulled him into a tight embrace; not realising your actions. You ended up pulling him down a fair bit from the differences in your height, while your giddiness left you oblivious to what was happening. You bounced on the balls of your feet, brushing your chest up against his and he felt his face burn at this contact; your soft mounds melding against his muscles almost too perfectly. He put his hands on your waist and pulled you off of him gently, while trying to calm the arousal that had fired up in the pit of his stomach.

"Great job." He congratulated, smiling brightly at your excitement. "You did well."

"I can't believe I did it properly!" You said happily, revelling in your own excitement. "That was so much fun!"

Coco just kept smiling, trying to force the flush away from his face and trying to quell his desires.

"You can keep practicing if you like." He offered, walking over to pull the arrow from its resting place and returning. He was just thankful for the brief moment of relief.

"If that's okay? I didn't think I would enjoy this as much. Where did you get this bow from? Did you make it?"

Questions tumbled out of your mouth from your excitement, unable to contain your curiosity. Coco handed the arrow back to you as he answered.

"I was given it when I was young so I could practice before I learned how to make my own."

"How old were you when you started?"

"Eight."

'Wow. That's so young! Also, shouldn't your target have dissolved from your poison? I wanted to ask you before you walked away earlier."

"It's the pelt of a Target Tiger. It has a high tolerance to poisons and other objects. Eventually it'll decay, but not for a long time."

Before you had a chance to ask more questions, your stomach let out a groan, and your hand flew to cover your stomach. You hadn't eaten since the single bowl of curry last night, and your body was now reminding you.

"Ahah… I guess I should probably eat something." You said sheepishly, coming down from your high.

"Should we have lunch then?" Coco offered.

"I think so." You agreed, unbuckling the quiver from around your hips and holding all of the equipment close. The two of you wandered back inside to settle in for a bite to eat. You hadn't felt this pure joy in such a long time, and you could almost feel it radiating out of you.

It felt nice.


	12. Chapter 12

You had really pulled a number on yourself this time.

A shiver ran down your spine as you huddled by the bathroom door, listening for signs of Coco. Your ears strained to hear light sounds of shuffling feet and the clatter of kitchenware. Odd breaks of silence left you dumbfounded and trying to pinpoint his exact location and what he was doing downstairs.

To be completely honest, you were stuck.

Taking a shower might have been a nice idea to begin with, but you had forgotten to bring your towel with you to actually get use afterwards. The worst part was, you knew exactly where it was and what you needed too. Your bag was downstairs by the foot of the lounge as well. You had developed the habit of picking out your outfit and putting everything at the front, enabling quick access and a quick change. Unfortunately, this was only applicable if you _actually _brought it _with_ you, or at the very least, your _towel_ to cover up with.

Of course, you could always just call out to Coco to bring it to you, but you couldn't bring yourself to raise your voice out to him. You had tried several times, but each time found nothing more than pitiable squeaks coming out. It's not that you didn't think he_ wouldn't _bring your things, but it was the knowledge that you had made such a stupid error that embarrassed you. That, and it would also confirm that you were indeed trapped naked in his bathroom with nothing to cover your shame with. As much as you had feelings for him, you didn't believe he reciprocated them at all. He was too afraid of being close to anyone, and too much of a gentleman to even _consider_ those kinds of thoughts about you. At least, that's what you kept telling yourself.

You had waited long enough by this point and had simply 'air-dried' off; your wet hair leaving small trails of drops down your back. You had attempted to squeeze out as much of the remaining water as you could, but there was always going to be a small amount left. You creaked the door open slightly and peeked out. You couldn't hear his footsteps coming up the tower, and nor could you hear them in the kitchen. Was he in the lounge room then? Tentatively, you opened the bathroom door wide and stepped out onto the cold stone step; steam billowing out around you like a shroud. Silence greeted you from downstairs and you tiptoed down the staircase, pressing up against the cold stone walls as you did. There was always the possibility that Coco had gone further upstairs to his bedroom, but he tended to only go there when he retreated for the night. He held a belief that he had to entertain you at all times, since you were a guest in his house.

Your toes stopped in front of the rounded archway that connected the side tower and flight of stairs to the heart of his home. You shivered once again as a drop of water rolled down your back, and you could feel your heart hammering in your chest. Of all the times to be in this state, why did it have to be around _Coco? _ You strained your ears again, trying to listen for his presence; so much so that you had even taken to holding your breath unconsciously. You thought the coast was clear, and just as you were about to move your foot a fraction further out, a chair scraping the floor lightly pulled you back into a nervous huddle. Blood pounded through your system and you waited to be caught. You couldn't bring yourself to look around the bricked wall, so you were relying on your auditory senses, even with the rush of blood thumping through them causing a skewed sense of hearing.

You heard a light thump on the table as well as a small sigh, before soft footsteps began to tread around the kitchen again. More clinking and clattering of unknown objects permeated the air and you wondered exactly what he was doing in there. You silently wished for him to leave; something you never thought you would feel in your life. Just for five minutes or so, so you could make your escape. Your mouthed 'please' over and over again, only stopping when you heard the quiet tap of Coco's shoes stop just in front of the archway. You pulled your hands over your mouth; fear lacing your eyes and you started to shake. One step more and you would be found. Coco's shadow loomed on the opposite wall, towering from the light source behind his physical frame.

"It's been a while," You heard Coco whisper to himself. "I wonder if she's okay…"

You squeezed your eyes shut out of guilt, trying to suppress the thundering pace of your heartbeat. He was right; it _had_ been an incredibly long time since you said you were going to go freshen up. If only you hadn't messed up and forgotten such a _basic _piece of equipment.

"Maybe I should go up and check on her?"

Your heart stopped. The world seemed to slow and you could see the rounded toe of his shoe peek into the stairwell. It stopped, frozen in mid-air before retreating back to its place on the floor.

"No, I'm sure she's fine. Give her some space."

It was like he was scolding himself with the way his tone shifted from concern to a mild harshness. You listened as his footsteps shuffled away and they pottered about the kitchen once again. Your moment of opportunity came when you heard the front door open and shut; the sound of Coco's footsteps disappearing into the springy grass outdoors.

You hauled your body out from your hiding spot and ran as fast as you could through the kitchen into the lounge room. In your flurry, you knocked a cabinet with your elbow, causing the crockery and dining sets inside to rattle ominously as you let out an expletive.

"(Y/n)? Are you alright?" Coco called through one of the windows in the first room.

You almost ripped open the zipper from your bag and pulled your bra on with astonishing speed before covering your top half with a simple, floral blouse. You had managed to pull a set of leggings out, but your set of underwear seemed to have disappeared into the ether, so you were scrounging through your clothing looking for something, _anything_ that you could wear. Your saviour came in the form of a racy, black G-string. You shrugged, not bothering to look for something else, since you were pressed for time.

Coco, on the other hand, would find this choice to be his downfall.

When he had heard the loud crash and you hadn't responded to his call, he made his way back into the house quickly. He had worried that you had fallen and hurt yourself, but was thankful he didn't see your body lying on the floor. He _could_ hear you scratching around in the lounge room and he peeked in to check if you were okay.

What he didn't expect to see was the absolute bare minimum of lace flying up your thighs, somehow preserving your modesty with such a small amount of fabric. His eyes widened before he made a complete one-eighty and strolled back into the kitchen, taking residence in the chair furthest away and trying to delve back into his book. He knew he wouldn't be able to, but it was better than sitting awkwardly without some sort of prop to make the whole scene look _somewhat_ normal. It was also the first time that he wasn't a fan of the skin-tight body suit he was so accustomed to wearing now. It felt like a second skin, which is why he was so fond of it, but not so much now since it wasn't even trying to mask the erection he was now sporting.

"Hey Coco." You said as nonchalantly as possible, fixing the hem of your shirt so it wasn't tucked into your leggings. You had wrapped your towel over your shoulders now as well, the wet ends of your hair seeping into the soft terry cloth.

"How was your day?"

"N-not bad." Coco said, trying not to let his voice crack further. "Mostly the same as every other day."

"Do you ever get tired of predicting fortunes?" You asked, taking a seat opposite him, peering at him quizzically.

"Some days make me want to change jobs. But it's not all bad."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Mmm, I guess because sometimes there's hints about ingredients that capture my interest. They crop up from time to time, which makes me interested."

"As interested as that book you've got there?"

Coco finally lifted his eyes from the pages, his cheeks crossing with a slight tinge of red. Not making eye contact with you when you were talking was _highly_ unlike him, but his mind was definitely elsewhere.

"I'm sorry, I'm being quite rude." He said, smiling apologetically in your direction. 'This book happens to be one of my favourites."

"Oh really?" You smirked, propping your chin up with your fingers interlaced like a bridge as you leaned on the table.

"Yes?" Coco blinked at you.

"I guess that explains why you're reading it upside down." You winked at him and poked your tongue out cheekily.

Coco dropped his gaze and looked back up at you rapidly, alternating between the book and your eyes.

"…yes." Was all he said, the tips of his ears growing crimson, eliciting a giggle from you.

"It's fine. I'm sure there's a reason for it." You said, not breaking eye contact on his features.

You had missed him since he had gone back into Gourmet Fortune for a day of work, but you kept yourself busy with a bunch of different tasks. You had just finished preparing dinner for you both when he had arrived back onto the plateau with Kiss, but you looked like you had fought with a bag of flour and lost when he had walked in the first time. This is what lead you to wanting a shower in the first place, not giving either of you the opportunity for idle talk since his return.

"Regardless," he said, closing the book and moving it to the side. "I hope you found enough to keep you interested today."

"Oh, don't worry about me. I was fine." You waved a hand dismissively before getting up from your seat. 'Are you hungry?"

'I could do with something to eat." He said, straining to give you a smile while he flexed his hands repeatedly. You noticed his action and found it odd.

"Are you alright?" You asked, furrowing your brow at him. He caught your gaze and immediately stopped his action.

"I'm fine?" he asked, trying to play it all off coolly.

You stared him down, narrowing your eyes suspiciously at him.

"Mmmkay. I'm watching you." You said with a grin, before turning to cook up dinner.

Coco gave a weak smile to your back, an ache growing in his abdomen while he watched you meander around the kitchen almost easily. It hadn't taken you long to learn where most things were kept, and you appreciated how organised it all was. It almost felt…homey.

"Hey, Coco, could you help me get the Honey Dragon Honey down for me, please?" You asked, stretching on your tiptoes as far as you could reach into the high cupboard. Your fingers were _just_ grazing the jar overhead.

Coco was struggling with his own demons, knowing fully well that if he stood up, he wouldn't be able to hide his rather _distinct_ issue from you. At the same time, it was inherently in his nature to assist anyone who asked for his help. He slowly peeled himself away from his seat, watching you with his sharp eyes. To his luck, your fingers found purchase around the glass jar and you brought it close to your chest.

"Phew! Never mind, I've got it." You said happily, watching him recede back into his seat with an inaudible sigh of relief. "You just sit and relax. I'll get everything sorted for us both."

You gave him a broad smile, turning back to your cooking, humming softly as you went along. Coco leaned on his hand and continued to watch you work through his long lashes. A wave of affection washed through his system, drenching most of his arousal and replacing it with a sombre feeling of warmth instead. This warmth counteracted with his usual cool body conduction, and he found himself enjoying the change in temperature. He was starting to become fond of it.

Both of you spent a quiet night in the lounge room, mostly talking about nothing and everything. Coco had even complimented you on your cooking, giving you a happy glow from the pit of your stomach. You had mentioned that you wished you could get fresh ingredients, but being here without a way across the valley left you without much freedom. You hadn't meant it as a gripe, but more as an observation of your current position in life. Coco, however, had a twinge of blame settling in his stomach, and offered to take you somewhere of your choice whenever you wanted. Your mind began running rampant with all of the ideas where you could possibly go. The world seemed to open up to you and you realised…you really didn't know what was out there.

It had grown late; the sun settling behind the mountains long ago, and Coco bid you goodnight before retreating upstairs to his own room. You settled down under your blanket again, resting on the squishy pillow around you, noticing the subtle scent of Coco's cologne lingered in the fibres of the lounge. His aroma surrounded you and you breathed it in deeply, butterflies stirring in your stomach over the idea of being cradled in his arms again. You didn't want to sleep and lose out on this feeling, but your eyes fought for dominance, blurring out the world around you and drowning it in darkness.

Coco lay awake, with his hands covering his face and he let out a groan. He was always so in control of his actions, but since meeting you, every day was like a roller coaster he couldn't get off. He never thought that _he_ would feel so out of control of his own body, not since the days he was held hostage under the scrutiny of IGO scientists. You did something to him that he couldn't explain, and his confliction grew more and more every day. He was acutely aware of what his poison could do to someone, but a growing need to get closer to you gnawed away at him more and more with every passing day. His memory filtered back to the moment, when he walked in on you earlier, waking his excitement from its sated slumber.

He didn't want to deal with it. He willed it to go back down, but it refused to. He pleaded with his conscious to listen to him, but he was fighting a losing battle. His hand inched its way down from his face and down his body, until it found its comfort gripped around his length and began pumping away.

It was a long night for Coco.


	13. Chapter 13

Hazel eyes blinked at you owlishly, while ears tried to comprehend what they just heard.

"Excuse me?" Coco asked, taken aback at your sudden outburst.

"Take me on a hunt with you." You said again, lowering your tea cup and steeling your nerve.

"I don't think-"

"You said you would take me anywhere I wanted to go. I want to go on a hunt with you."

You locked eyes with the Heavenly King, refusing to break your gaze. Truthfully, it had taken a lot of your nerve to ask the question, but now that it was out in the open, you didn't feel so nervous about it.

Coco furrowed his brow lightly at you.

"Where did this come from all of a sudden?"

You wrapped your hands around your tea cup, cradling in the heat in your palms.

"I think it would be fun."

"Fun?"

"Yes, _fun_. Why, is that a problem?"

Coco's tea cup remained suspended between his lips and the table, frozen, as he tried to process what you were saying. Only a mere moment ago were you deciding what sort of dessert you wanted to make tonight.

"I've never really heard the word '_fun_' being used to describe working in the field before."

"Didn't you enjoy it before though? Before you became a soothsayer?"

Coco flinched at your comment. It was true; a long time ago he _did_ enjoy going out and finding new ingredients. Recently though, his fears had started to get the better of him. Or, perhaps he was becoming complacent with his lifestyle choices.

"I did." He admitted quietly, finally lowering his tea cup to the table.

"Well, what's the problem now? Are you scared or something?"

"I'm not scared. I just…"

Coco trailed off, lowering his eyes into the green tea steaming in the ceramic. It looked so delicate under his large fingers. He could easily break it into pieces if he wanted to. All it would take was just a little pressure…

So much of that little cup reminded him of you.

"…I don't want you to get hurt."

You let out a sigh. You could understand his hesitation, but you weren't an invalid. Yes, you had been hurt before in the past; including one unfortunate time when he had to help put you back together, but you weren't fragile. You could defend yourself when you needed it…for the most part.

"Coco, I'm not going to crumble into dust from a few cuts and scrapes." You said, leaning your head on one hand. "If I did, do you think I would have worked in my industry for so long?"

"I guess not." Coco relented, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"And besides, we'll be together, right? I'm not asking for you to drop me off in the middle of nowhere and leave me alone."

This earned a chuckle from the man across from you.

"There's absolutely no way I would let that happen."

"Exactly! What are we waiting for then?!"

"Slow down. What it is you're wanting to capture?"

"Capture?"

"Yes, _capture_." Coco smirked, taking another sip of his tea. "You have to decide what it is you _want_ before we just go off somewhere."

He had you pegged at this point. You hadn't really thought you would get this far in your request, but now that you were on the verge of success, it occurred to you that you didn't know _what _you were looking for.

"I… well… I guess…" you stammered, trying to think of something. You caught a glimpse of Coco's raised eyebrow at you and it was causing you to falter more.

"…Sweets." You concluded meekly.

"Sweets?"

"Yeah… I have a pretty big sweet tooth. I like making them too…"

"I have noticed that. Is there a reason for that?"

You shrugged, taking another sip of your tea.

"It's not like I have some strange back story for them. It was just something I was good at back in culinary school. Plus, they're a comfort food for me. You can probably imagine I've had my fair share of bad days."

"I guess you would have, considering your line of work."

"Heh, sad isn't it? Depending on food to feel better?"

"It's not that uncommon, especially in this day and age."

"I guess…"

The two of you fell back into silence, respectively finishing your drinks at different intervals. You both remained at the table, lost in your own thoughts. Coco cleared his throat, pulling you out of your reverie.

"Well, you should probably get something a little more…robust on." He said, eyeing your clothing. You had on a particularly thin and flowing dress on today; one you thought perfectly matched the spring weather.

"Hm? Why?"

Coco smiled at you with upturned eyes.

"We're heading out. You wanted to go on a hunt, didn't you?"

"W-Wait, what? Right now?"

"Yes. Good food waits for no one."

With that, Coco collected the dishes by the sink and strolled up the tower staircase, leaving your mouth agape and you blinking back at him.

As usual, Kiss touched his long purple talons down onto the ground with such finesse, you almost forgot he was almost the size of a two-story building. Coco jumped off from his back and held out his hands to catch you on your way down. You grinned at the Heavenly King and slid off from the Emperor Crow's back, sticking a stable landing with both feet on the ground; no assistance necessary. Coco raised his eyebrow and smirked at you in response, while you dusted your hands and put them firmly on your hips.

"Right. Where to?" You said, giving him a confident stare.

"Well, someone's confident. Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Bit late to back out now, isn't it?"

"Fair point."

"Where are we, anyway?"

"The Cassonade Archipelago. My fortunes tell me you'll find what you're looking for here."

Your eyes scanned the land around you. Frankly speaking, it didn't look too different from your typical forests you were used to seeing. You wondered what made this place so special. Still, the nice weather had held out, even if you had travelled a few hours away from Gourmet Fortune. Kiss had waited until you were safely on the ground before taking off, circling the skies far from your field of vision. You waved goodbye to your feathered friend before noticing that Coco had already started off without you.

"Hey! Wait up!" You said, doing an awkward little skip and run over to him. "Don't leave me alone; you promised!"

"You're fine, aren't you? Besides, you're the one that wanted to come out on a hunt." Coco chuckled, ignoring the pout you were sending his way.

"Some gentleman _you_ are." You said with a huff, crossing your arms over your chest playfully.

"You know, I don't even know _why_ I have that nickname."

"It's pretty obvious, actually."

"Do tell."

"Oh, come on, Coco," You rolled your eyes at him, dropping your arms and linking your hands behind your back. "You're _clearly_ one of the nicest people in the world, and it's only coupled with the fact that you're handsome as hell. It's almost a little infuriating."

"Infuriating?"

"Well, yes. Look, maybe that's too strong a word. You're just so… so…"

Your eyes darted in all directions as you tried to think of the best word to describe him. But how could you boil it down to just _one_ word? Coco was a lot of things, and that's what was so frustrating about him. From his compassionate nature, soothing voice and remarkable aesthetics, he was just simply…

"…wonderful." You said, averting your eyes.

A small smile crossed Coco's lips. He was used to being complimented by the hoards of women back in town, but it felt different coming from you. He was almost inclined to believe those words.

"Thank you. But I believe Sunny is probably the nicest looking one out of all of us."

"Sunny definitely makes an entrance. He practically glows…but I find his narcissism a little overbearing."

"You're not the only one to think that. Even I find it tiresome after a while."

'But you'd never tell him that, would you?" You said, rolling your eyes back to look at Coco. Something about the way he smirked confirmed your statement.

'See? Only someone like you would stay quiet so long."

Coco just shook his head as a response, a little grin escaping his façade. You both walked in silence for a while; the low crunch of nature underneath your boots. The air had a sweet tang to it as you breathed it in deeply through your nose, and the greenery had an almost candy-like colouring about it.

'So, what kinds of ingredients are we going to find here?" You asked.

"Things that would make good sweets. It's what you wanted after all."

"Okay, yes, but are we going to come across some sort of dangerous animal while we're at it? I feel a little underprepared, to be honest."

After becoming a little more accustomed to handling a bow, you felt like you should have bought it with you for some sort of protection. You weren't a professional archer by any sense of the word, and you wouldn't be able to take something down, but having it would have made you feel more comfortable.

"There's nothing to worry about.' Coco said, offering you a comforting glance. "This isn't a high-risk area by any means. I doubt that we'll be in trouble."

The conviction in Coco's voice eased your concerns. He was the experience one here after all. Whatever doubt you had in your mind, you convinced yourself that he would keep you safe from harm.

At this point, a shrub to your left rustled harshly and your panic spiked without warning. Despite all of your mental persuasion, your body still reacted on impulse and you ducked behind Coco; like a child hiding from a stranger.

The shrub continued to shake until out popped the small white body of a rabbit. Its ears twitched in all directions as its beady eyes locked onto both of your forms. Its nose twitched as it stared you both down, and you peeled yourself from behind Coco. You couldn't help but smile at the cute creature.

"Hey little guy," You said in an airy voice, crouching down to the ground and offering your hand out to it. "You're so cute!"

The rabbit's nose twitched at you before it scampered away, leaving dusty white footprints in its wake. You pouted again as you stood up.

"He doesn't like me." You said with a light whine. You just wanted to pat it.

"No, it's probably something else." Coco said, patting your shoulder and leading you to keep moving. He was following the trail of paw prints left by the rabbit.

"Like what?"

"Well, there's a few things. But why don't we follow where it went? Maybe he'll lead us to some nice ingredients."

"I guess…"

The two of you tracked the pawprints ahead of you. It struck you as odd that there was even a trail to follow. Normally, animals wouldn't leave behind a residue from their feet.

"Hey Coco, what kind of rabbit was that?" You asked, tapping your finger to your chin in thought.

'It's a Sugarabbit." Coco said simply. "Its body is made of a powdered sugar that comes off of it in a fine dust. It's actually quite the quality ingredient."

"Wait, so you're telling me I could use it in cooking?"

"Well, yes? This is the Gourmet Age after all."

You stopped walking and stared in disbelief. Why was this suddenly news to you? It's true, you knew that food was considered more than just a commodity, but you suddenly realised that your lack of knowledge about the world was enormous. Even through culinary school, you hadn't particularly focused on where ingredients _came_ from; they were always just there, ready and waiting to be used. Things like fruits and vegetables you were accustomed to and could figure out that they were a naturally growing product, but basic things like herbs and spices? You never fathomed that those could be produced from animals as well.

"What's wrong (Y/n)?" Coco called out to you. Concern was written all over his face.

You shook your head quickly and refocused yourself.

"Oh yeah. I'm fine. I'm just… _mind blown_ about how much I don't know."

Coco smiled and gestured you to follow him.

"Come on. Let's keep looking."

You nodded and joined back up with him. It wasn't long before a large expanse of undergrowth blocked your way from going further. At least, that's what you thought, but Coco pulled a bunch of branches and growth away with relative ease. This opened up a small passage for you both to clamber through, and you gasped.

On the other side was a clearing; a lake shimmered under the sun and the sweet tang in the air grew stronger. You watched as dozens of Sugarabbits bounced around, playing happily with each other; dustings of powdered sugar flying off of their coats. Plants and flowers all the colours of the rainbow lined the edge of the lake and extended beyond, deep into the tree line. Rocks of golden amber refracted light with a comforting glow, and you could smell the distinct smell of cinnamon biting your nostrils.

'Oh wow," you breathed, marvelling at the natural wonder before you. You quietly pulled yourself through the underbrush into the meadow, clasping your hands together by your chest.

"It's so beautiful here." You whispered, hearing Coco shuffle in behind you.

"Go on and look around." Coco said. "It's okay to try food as well. We're not going to destroy the ecosystem if we take a small amount."

"O-okay…"

You approached a large group of Sugarabbits, creeping closer and closer to them so you wouldn't scare them off entirely. Some of them did run off out of fright, but most of them milled around in the grass, huddling together in groups and pairs. You crouched down on the grass and held your hand out, waiting to see if any of them would come close to you. You were avoided for a long time, but then one of them hopped up to your hand and began sniffing your fingers. Its whiskers tickled your skin but you held back from moving so quickly in case you frightened it off. Its fur was so soft and you twitched your fingers underneath its soft hairs, feeling clumps of sugar building up on your fingers.

The Sugarabbit hopped closer to you, still sniffing your skin as it moved from your hand and into your lap. It placed both paws on your lap and reached up inquisitively. You took the opportunity to cradle the bunny in your hands and then pick it up, smiling at the way it curled its feet up at you. It blinked its eyes at you and twitched its little nose at you. You were almost certain that it was smiling at you. You hugged it to your body, and called Coco over to help you get a Gourmet Case out from your backpack.

"Coco, can you help me out here? I want to take some of the sugar for us both."

Coco pulled a small container out from the bag on your shoulders and popped it open for you. You began petting the small rabbit, guiding the sugar from its fur into the vessel. The rabbit had started to lick you; its small tongue darting out rapidly over your skin and leaving warm, sticky kisses. You couldn't hold back the smile beaming from your face.

"He's adorable! Oh, I wish I could keep him!" You squealed, planting little kisses all over its head. You ended up with a burst of sugar up your nose and you sneezed; a small white cloud blowing out.

"Probably best if we don't." Coco chuckled, hiding back his laughter from the white powder that had settled over your face.

"I know, I know. But he's so cute and soft and _adorable! _Here, why don't you hold him?!"

Your excitement was getting the better of you, and you thrusted the small mammal towards Coco. He politely declined, but you kept trying to press the rabbit into his arms. Coco was keeping his distance from it. Eventually you just held the rabbit in front of his face, and its tongue darted out against Coco's nose and peppered him with licks.

"Oh, my goodness, that was _the cutest_ thing I've ever seen!"

"That wasn't a good idea…" Coco said, retreating from you both with a sad look.

"Huh? Why's that?"

'I think you should put him down, (Y/n)."

"What's wrong?"

Puzzled, you crouched down and let the Sugarabbit go, and it bounded towards the others, though you watched it as it started to limp sideways and its legs buckled under him and it fell over a few times.

"Did I do something wrong?" You asked worriedly.

"No, _you_ didn't." Coco said sadly. "I did."

"But you didn't do anything?"

"It's my poison. There's always traces of it on my skin. Unfortunately, he's ingested some of it."

"Is he going to be okay?" You asked with a horrified look on your face.

"He'll be fine, he's just knocked a little. I feel bad for it though…"

You patted his shoulder and offered a kind smile.

"Hey, it'll be alright. It's not like you actively went to hurt it, right?"

Sadness still clouded Coco's features, and you opted to take the Gourmet Case from his hands, fastening the lid on it.

"At least we got something? Look, it's my very first capture!"

You held the container up and beamed, excitement coursing through you once again. It wasn't anything spectacular, but you were happy. Your happiness was enough for Coco to break a small smile.

"Well done. There are still many things for us to find. Let's keep going."

You wandered over to the sparkling lake and peered into the water. You could see small bubbles of carbonation bubbling under the surface and you dipped your hands in. You made a cup with your hands and pulled some of the liquid to your lips and drew it in. It fizzed in your mouth with a refreshing tang.

"It's lemonade!" you said excitedly. 'Coco, you have to try some of this!"

You pulled a small canteen from your hip and dipped it underwater, filling it with the natural fizzy drink. You took another hearty gulp from it before offering it to the Heavenly King. He took the canteen from you and tipped it back, careful to not let it physically touch his lips. He let out a satisfied puff of air.

"It's delicious." He said simply.

"I didn't think a lake like this could exist." You said, refilling the canteen and shaking off the excess liquid.

"Well, it makes sense for it to be here." Coco said. "This place is a specialty for sugary foods."

"Just how much sugar are we talking?"

'Well, try peeling a piece of bark from the trees over there." He pointed to the tree line. You scurried over and ran your fingers over the tree, feeling for a break in the smooth trunk. Your fingers latched onto a small lift in the bark and you pulled. A sheet snapped off in your hands and you tasted it.

"This is… dark chocolate!" You announced, taking another bite of the rich, bitter chocolate. Its consistency melted onto your tongue into a velvety treat. You started pulling more and more pieces of bark off the tree and stowing them into another case, filling it as much as you could.

From then on, you explored every inch of the meadow that you could lay your eyes on. The golden rocks turned out to be giant chunks of toffee, while the colourful flowers in bloom were natural hard candies. Each different colour was a different flavour, and the stamens were natural lollipops. You plucked a few and handed one to coco, lime of course. He took it graciously, and popped it into his mouth; the stick hanging out of his mouth looked quite comical.

Eventually, you had gathered a whole range of pantry staples; although they were simple types of ingredients, the amount of foods you could make with them were almost endless. You had enjoyed sampling all of the different types of sugars and sweet treats that were on offer, and you had collected a many great ingredients. Things like a dark sand that turned out to be refined cocoa, sap from a springy tree that made a delicious syrup, and even small collections of ready-made snacks and candies. Coco had shown an almost child-like delight at the sight of roaming Cookie Alpacas, hunting them down to take their pelt of assorted biscuits from them. He had relented to you that, while he doesn't normally partake in many sweets and desserts, he had a soft spot for these particular cookies. You happened to think it was adorable.

You had decided to rest your legs and taken a seat against one of the Rock Toffee, stretching out when Coco returned, holding an odd looking dandelion out to you.

"What's this?" You asked, taking it from him and inspecting it.

"Dentalion." Coco said, taking a seat next to you against the rock. "It'll help freshen your teeth from all the sugar we've had right now."

He pulled one of the leaves from the stem and placed it on his tongue, before lightly brushing over his teeth with the head of the dandelion. You expected it to blow away in the wind, but it was a lot sturdier than you had perceived. Reacting with the leaf, it bubbled like toothpaste. You followed suit, taking a leaf from your own flower and placing it on your tongue. It tasted like a fresh sprig of mint. The bubbling from the Dentalion acted like a cleaning agent, and as you swallowed the residue, your teeth felt cleaner than ever. You sighed contentedly, watching the group of Sugarabbits bounce and play across from you both; keeping a wide berth away from Coco.

"This has been one of the best days of my life." You said softly, twirling the stem of the Dentalion idly in your hands.

"I'm glad you've had fun. Did you enjoy your first hunt?" Coco asked, looking down at you with a sweet gaze. A wayward strand of your hair was taking his attention, and he was doing all he could to fight the urge to tuck it back for you.

"I did! If you could even call it a hunt." You chuckled. "Though, I would have loved to see you in action a little more."

"What do you mean?"

"You know… the way you fight. It's…strangely graceful. If it's anything like the way you train, I think it would be kind of amazing to witness in person."

Coco let out a small sigh and shook his head lightly.

"For me to be serious about fighting, that would mean there's a distinct threat around us. I try to prevent getting into fights as much as I can."

"I get what you mean, but I can't help feeling like that." You admitted lamely, embarrassed.

"_Just like I can't help but feel other things about you." _You thought, making your heart jump at an odd beat.

You tipped your head onto his shoulder without even realising, and he flinched under your touch.

"I suppose we should start heading home." Coco said, looking up to the sky. Somewhere above, Kiss was waiting for his call.

"Home…" You said, your mouth twitching downward.

"Is everything okay? You seem upset."

"Oh no, it's nothing like that." You said, pulling yourself up and shaking your hands quickly.

"I guess I should probably start thinking getting home too." You said sombrely.

A small sound of protest fell past Coco's lips, but you didn't hear it.

"You can stay as long as you want." He said meekly. "It's no trouble at all."

You let out a sigh. Of course he wouldn't find it an issue, but you were starting to feel like a burden in his home. For someone who has little social interaction, being a constant presence in his personal space must be very taxing for him. You were starting to feel guilty about it all.

"I figured you would say something like that." You said, nudging his arm lightly with your own. "But I can't leech off of your good intentions forever. Plus, I need to settle some personal issues of my own."

If you had your own choice, you would have liked to stay with Coco for as long as you possibly could. But you were two people that led very different lives, and as much as it pained you to say it, you weren't anything more than friends.

And at this rate, there was a high possibility that you might never be anything else.

"…I understand." Was all that Coco said, looking quite downtrodden as he did so.

"This isn't the end, though." You said, trying to lift the mood. "We can always meet up again. Whenever and wherever."

"Yes, that's true. I hope we can continue being friends."

_Friends_.

That word stung your heart like a piercing needle. So much so, you even winced when he said it.

"Hey, listen…" You asked quietly, turning to pull your phone from your pocket.

"Hmm?"

"I was wondering if… we could get a photo together?"

You broached the subject by bringing out the small metallic device and waving it a little. You could already sense Coco's apprehension, but you wanted to press the issue.

'I know you're not a fan of being recorded by any means but… I'd really like to have a keepsake of us together. You know… something to tide me over until we can meet again."

You looked into Coco's eyes and watched as his mind and soul played havoc with one another. You started to believe you had crossed a line at this point. Maybe you should back off and forget about it. After all, you were always going to remember what he looked like, blessed with a face like his.

"…Okay." He said quietly. Elation flooded through your being. "Just one… I don't think I can handle any more."

You nodded, and set up your phone's camera to take the shot. You scooted in as close to him as possible and tilted the device up. He shuffled in at an awkward angle to fit into the screen and you smiled. A big, beautiful smile and while the Heavenly King was uncomfortable, he still managed to look as serene as ever. A sweet little smile danced on his lips.

With a simple push of a button, this memory was preserved forever.


	14. Chapter 14

Home seemed like such a foreign place to you. The way the key clicked its metalling clang in the lock sounded almost otherworldly. That ethereal ring also held a timbre of calm; an essence of simply _you_ beckoned you home with a welcome warmth. Although, you had begun to feel that home always had the presence of a particularly tall and handsome being. Wherever Coco was, you felt like you were in the right place; simply, like you were _home_.

You let out a large sigh and breathed in the scent of hardwood floors; the subtle twang of lemon cleaning product bit at your senses from the last time you had lived within these walls. The curtains were still drawn since you had left, and you mentally kicked yourself for leaving the place so dark and musty. Surely letting in natural sunlight wouldn't have hurt. It wasn't like the rays would have bothered you; you hadn't been home.

"Everything okay?" Coco's mellow voice asked.

"Oh yeah, it's fine." You said, exhaustion starting to creep up on you. You hadn't envisioned that being away from your sanctuary would have made you feel so exhausted. 'I guess I missed being here more than I thought."

"I'm sorry if I kept you too long."

"Don't be daft. I needed to get away when I did. Come in, come in."

You held the door open for Coco as he breezed through the entryway, carrying your luggage for you much too easily.

"You know, you really didn't have to carry my things." You said, closing the heavy wooden door and securing the latch on it.

"It's no trouble. I wanted you to be comfortable."

"I was perfectly fine." You sighed with a smile. He was always doing small gestures for you just to make you "comfortable."

"Well, it's no trouble at all."

Coco flashed his signature sweet smile your way and you felt your heart twitch. The inevitability of you both parting ways was drawing closer with every second, and you weren't sure how to deal with it. Yes, you wanted to come home, but you still wanted to be with him. Your want to be with him conflicted with your want to be home, and you were having a hard time trying to express your feelings to him.

"D-do you want some tea?" You asked, trying to swallow the lump that had formed in your throat suddenly.

"Sounds lovely." Coco replied, settling the gourmet cases on the island bench in the kitchen and turning to gather water for the tea.

"Would you _please_ just sit down, Coco?" You sighed with exasperation. "You're _my_ guest now, so you don't need to do everything."

He blinked at you once before throwing his hands up and stepping away from the kitchen.

"If you say so." He said with a sly smile while you pouted at him. He gracefully folded himself down onto your couch and nestled in, running his fingers over the fabric idly.

"Thank you." You said with a light snip to your tone. "Goodness, it's like having a stubborn child. A well-mannered one at least, but stubborn nonetheless."

"You're saying I'm a child?" Coco egged, raising an eyebrow in your direction.

"You know perfectly well that's _not_ what I'm getting at." You said shortly, settling your tea pot to boil on the element.

You knew he was pushing you; egging you for some kind of response. You had to bite back at a particularly nasty line that teetered on the edge of your tongue. However, you were in _your_ domain now, and you were the master of your province.

"I'm not particularly attracted to boys." You settled on, arching your eyebrow at him with a crafty smile. You noticed the way his eyes flicked wide for just a moment before settling back to simmer under his lashes. He let out a small cough to clear his throat, turning away from you briefly.

"I digress." He said, avoiding making eye contact with you, and tapping his fingers on the arm of the lounge.

"What are you going to do now?" He probed softly, bringing his hands together into his lap. You couldn't help but notice how much he was fidgeting, watching the way one of his thumbs rubbed softly over the other.

"Work wise?" You queried back, leaning on the island bench with your chin in your hand.

"…yes." Coco said, finally bringing his eyes up back to yours. "I'll be honest, I don't feel comfortable with you…returning to your former occupation."

You let out a sigh and trudged over to join him on the couch, flopping down next to him ungracefully.

"I don't even know what I want to do anymore." You admitted with a sigh, leaning into his shoulder. He flinched slightly but didn't pull away. Instead, he eased into your cheek ever so slightly; revelling in the small warmth against his cool skin underneath his bodysuit.

"If you need help-"

"I'll be fine." You cut him off, smiling exasperatedly at him. "You're too kind for your own good."

"I just…"

Coco took a deep breath, struggling to collect his thoughts while you blinked your (e/c) at him.

"I just care about you." He said softly, still twiddling his thumbs.

You nuzzled into his shoulder more and grinned, letting the butterflies begin their ascent in your stomach once more. Seeing how awkward Coco was over you was endearing, to say the least.

"I care about you too…" You said softly, shifting your arm so your hand grazed over his thigh and came to rest on it. You didn't dare to go further, but you could feel your heart thumping so strongly inside your chest that you wondered if he could feel it too.

You both sat in close comfort, letting the silence brew between you until the whistle of the tea pot pierced the air. You puffed out a soft sigh of disappointment before peeling yourself away from his body. The walk between the couch and the kitchen felt like an eternity before you returned with two steaming cups of green tea. You handed one to him with a smile before returning to your spot next to him.

"I think I'm going to look for something new." You said finally, taking a small mouthful of tea after blowing on it to cool. "Maybe a café or something."

"I think you'd suit it." Coco offered, sipping his tea contentedly next to you. He was happy for the distraction to stop his hands from fidgeting again.

"Mmm, maybe. I've enjoyed cooking again too…maybe I can put the two together."

"Perhaps you could open your own business?"

You let out a snort of derision with a sombre smile.

"I think I've had enough of running my own business." You chuckled, swirling the green liquid in your cup and gazing into it. "I think I just want to work, come home and be able to relax at the end of it, you know?"

Coco nodded his head at your words, gazing out of the window into the bright afternoon sun.

"Just take care of yourself, please." He said, before tipping his face down to lock eyes with you. The tension became palpable between you both again and you broke out a small smile.

"I will. Promise." You said, leaning back into him once more.

Two hours passed before Coco bid his farewell, and you locked the door safely behind him. You knew he was waiting on the other side to listen to the latch locking before making his exit, and you couldn't help the swell in your chest because of him. You couldn't remember the last time you felt like this, but having a crush felt so _nice_. Taking a deep breath, you traipsed into the small study and booted your computer up; navigating with a familiar expertise until you had wormed your way into the back end of your website. It was only then that you had ever looked for a specific button, one that would bring an end to your business entirely.

It was with a cheerful grin that you watched the site break down on itself, until a small white page with a technical error greeted you forevermore.

You felt that you could do without the maid outfit, but beggars can't be choosers. The soft black and white dress swished around your thighs as you moved through the kitchen, collecting orders and manning the register on your shift. By some miracle, you had managed to snag a position in a small family owned café fairly close to your home in Gourmet Town. You had stopped in for a drink after handing out resumés and something about it's neat little window display caught your attention. Settled with a hot drink, you made small talk with the owner as he bustled around the premise between customers, and after mentioning that you were looking for work, he offered you an opportunity that you weren't about to throw away the chance for. After five consecutive shifts, it looked like you were a safe bet, and you were then presented with your own uniform; the maid outfit. You understood how powerful sex sells, but you couldn't help but feel a tiny bit exposed, even if you _had_ worn one before on numerous occasions.

Your reignited passion for baking had also proved to be fruitful too, as the owner, Ojiro had all but demanded you make some to be sold exclusively at his café from now on. You had to admit that this was certainly a confidence boost, but you felt that the only reason they tasted so nice as the fresh ingredients you had captured on your hunts with Coco. Still, you weren't about to turn down extra money for doing something you enjoyed, and it didn't feel like much of a chore to make your sweets in bulk. It almost felt like you _did_ have your own store, but without the responsibility.

You were happy.

You bid farewell to a sweet gentleman as the register rang out with a cheerful _ka-ching_, tipping the cash from the sale into its specific slots. Today was a bustling trade, and tables were being filled and replaced with guests almost immediately when the previous occupants had finished.

"Ahh, (Y/N), your baked goods are such a god-send!" Ojiro said, patting you on the shoulder as he breezed past you as he worked, filling up multiple plates with different pastries from the cabinet. "You've been the best thing I could ever ask for!"

"That's very sweet, Mr Tanaka sir." You chirped, tidying the counter briefly and wiping it down.

"Oh, please my dear, just call me Ojiro." He pressed, shutting the cabinet and beaming at you before making a beeline out onto the floor again stacked high with plates.

The chatter and hum of the customer's babble downed out most of your thoughts as you paced yourself through your responsibilities. You were giving one of the display cases a good clean when you were snapped out of your concentration when almost all of the customers scraped back their chairs and fled the café as a giant mob. You peeked your eyes over the counter as your jaw slacked, unsure of what exactly was going on. A mere moment ago, the place was filled with happy customers, and now it was reminiscent of a ghost town.

"Uhh… Ojiro?" You called out, pulling yourself up and straightening your uniform.

"…Ojiro?"

Silence greeted you before you heard ragged panting breathing out from your boss's form. His salmon coloured shirt appeared in front of you in a flash and his large hands pulled you further behind the counter and down onto the ground.

"Shh!" He hissed, holding you close and keeping his eye out through the glass pastry cabinet.

"What's going o-"

"_Shh! He's _here_!" _He said in a sharp whisper.

"_Who's _here?!_"_

"_It's-_"

Before Ojiro could finish his sentence, a deep, booming voice echoed through the café, shaking the glass windows with an extreme force.

"**How hard is it to get some fuck'n service here?!**"

Despite your boss's protests, you pulled yourself out of his grasp and stood up, eyes falling onto the large figure standing in the doorway of the café. He was dressed in a simple ochre shirt and grey pants, but his muscles were ones that would rival Toriko's form easily. Deep scars etched over his biceps glinted with menace under the fluorescent lights, but it was his face that held the most horror. Underneath wild locks of fuchsia hair, sharp eyes sat in deep recesses under a permanent scowl, while the left side of his mouth remained open in a permanent scar. Serrated teeth peeked through the folds of skin from his Glasgow smile, sharp and animalistic. You thought you might have seen this man in your nightmares.

His eyes locked onto your form as you stood up, and his scowl seemed to crease further into his features.

"**Are you going to help me."**

It wasn't a request, and you found yourself making your way over to him before your brain could connect to your feet. His voice reverberated through your body and you tried to steel your nerve enough to put on your professional face again.

"H-Hello sir." You squeaked, pulling yourself together in front of him. If you thought your maid outfit was small before, it made you feel _tiny_ before this behemoth of a man.

"H-How may I help you t-today?"

You heard the man scoff before he pulled a chair out from a table. The metallic screech of the legs pulling across the tiles struck your ears painfully, but you did your best to keep smiling.

"I'm hungry." The man said, dropping into the chair with a heavy thud and he finally blinked. That break in eye contact made you feel like the spell was broken over you, and you began to collect your thoughts more. You paid notice that the harshness in his tone has dissipated an iota. If he was hungry, why shouldn't you just feed him?

"Of course." You said, your own voice still comparatively small, but you had a job to do. "What would you like?"

"Anything. And hurry up with it."

You nodded and turned on your heel, gathering up clean dishes and piling up a large selection of your goods onto the one plate. Ojiro watched with fearful eyes as you worked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"(Y/n), what are you doing?" He whispered, still hiding under the safety of the counter.

"Serving, what does it look like?" You hissed back, trying to balance a croissant onto the top of the leaning tower of food that you were currently balancing.

"(Y/n), that's _Heavenly King Zebra!"_

"_Huh? Really?!"_

"_Yes! He's got a temper as foul as a wild beast. You should just move him on!"_

"_He just wants to eat. I would suggest getting him a drink for this too, by the way."_

You gestured to the stack of food in your hand and shut the cabinet, trying to make it all presentable in the best way possible. You neatened what you could and made your way back to him, placing the plate down in front of him as he picked his teeth with a long fingernail.

"Here you are, sir." You said, bringing your hands together in front of your lap and bowing. "I hope you enjoy the selection of our delicious goods on offer."

"Are you being cocky?" Zebra griped with such intensity you were rattled to your very core.

"E-Excuse me?"

"Gettin' all cocky by saying these're delicious. I can't stand cocky people."

At this point you were a bundle of shaking nerves. Now you could understand why _he_ didn't show up to the banquet with the other Kings.

"Not cocky, sir." You squeaked again, wanting to hide away for eternity. "Just…proud?"

Zebra snorted again and crammed the top croissant in his mouth greedily. You could see flecks of pastry moving in and out of his teeth and gums from his open wound and he forced another two desserts into his mouth before finishing the first one. You remained frozen on the spot, watching in both awe and fear at the raw intensity of this man's eating. He had finished the plate in the blink of an eye and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand roughly. Those same sharp eyes clicked onto you again and he pointed a thick finger in your direction.

"More." was all he said.

You nodded and scooted back behind the counter again, this time grabbing multiple plates and piling the as much of the foods available that you could balance on each one. When your hands were full, you dropped off what you had to his table before repeating the process until all of your stocks had depleted. At some point, Ojiro had handed you a bottle of aged whiskey to take out to him too, which he threw down his throat with gusto.

Rather than standing around and staring, you took pains to go about and clear up the rest of the place. You busied yourself with clearing plates and wiping tables as sounds of chewing and grunting permeated the silence briefly. Occasionally you would flick your eyes over to your customer and watch him rip into all of your food with ravenous force, before turning your attention away to your task again. Before long, he had cleaned his plates and emptied the brown bottle of all its contents. Zebra ran a finger over a plate, wiping up a trail of powdered sugar and sucking it off of his digit crudely. He pushed himself away from the table with the same rough force as before, but made his way towards you. You could feel the blood pounding in your ears. Zebra put his hands on his hips and pulled himself down to your eye level.

"Oi, you made that stuff?"

You nodded and managed to squeeze out a small _yes_ at him.

"Good."

You figured this was some kind of compliment so you forced a small smile to him.

"Thank you, sir. Can I get you anything else?"

Zebra snorted again and started towards the door. The bell above tinkled sweetly and you felt the words rushing out of your mouth before you could think.

"E-Excuse me! You need to pay!"

Zebra stopped in the middle of the doorway; a hard feat to accomplish since he was almost double the width of it. He stopped dead in in his tracks and your blood turned cold.

"_What have I done?" _you thought, knees shaking violently now.

Zebra turned, ever so slowly, back to face you. If you thought his scowl before was menacing, it had nothing compared to the look you were receiving now, and you could swear your soul was seeping out of your body.

"**Excuse me?"**

He was back to using that harsh, buffeting voice again, but you had come this far. If you were going to die, at least die standing on your feet.

"I-I need you to pay for your meals…p-please."

A low growl escaped from him lips as he stared you down. Whether or not it was your conviction or something else, Zebra turned back into the café and lumbered over to the register, throwing a card down onto the counter top a little too aggressively. Ojiro had appeared out of nowhere again and totalled up the sale, before processing the black card that belonged to the fourth Heavenly King. Ojiro stuttered out a thankyou before Zebra swiped his plastic back and stuffing it deep into a pocket in his pants. He cast a intimidating look over to your boss before spitting out his next words.

"You the owner?" he asked.

"W-why yes, Mr Zebra. Sir." Ojiro stammered, failing to hide any sort of fear plaguing him at this encounter.

Zebra's harsh eyes scanned over Ojiro's lean form and stylish brown hair before snarling at him further. He then turned to cast his eyes over you again and back to the owner.

"Grow some fuck'n balls."

And with that, Zebra waltzed out of the café and into the bustle of Gourmet Town. The bell tinkled again happily at his exit, and you both were left standing there dumbfounded at the whole exchange.


	15. Chapter 15

Bitter wind licked up against the backs of your legs as you fumbled with the store key. Already, you had been entrusted with opening and closing the store for Ojiro, and while you appreciated the honour, tonight you would have much preferred to let him do it himself. It had been a frustrating day as it was, and now the teeth of the key weren't lining up in the lock properly. All in all, your irritation grew by the second, and with an aggravated snarl, you once again had failed to lock the store up safely for the night. You were starting to feel a little too cold out in the open as well; an unnatural chill settling over Gourmet Town for the night. Home was only a short walk for you, only fifteen minutes, but even that felt too long.

You let out an exasperated grunt and finally the key cooperated with you; the lock leaving a satisfying click. You rattled the door to check the security before tucking the keys into the small pocket on your shirt. You patted down the skirt of your maid uniform and hoisted a small bag on your shoulder before trundling towards home. Boy, you were ready to call it a night with some greasy take out and some sort of unhealthy beverage.

At least, that's what you had planned.

Your short heels clicked with every step under the glow of the street lights, tunnel vision clouding your thoughts. You just wanted to get home, so you weren't paying much attention to the two men that were sharing the footpath ahead of you. Sub consciously, you gripped the strap of your bag tightly but continued to make your way up the street. The two men were laughing between each other, and one of them locked eyes with you before flashing a light grin coupled with a simple hello. You returned a sweet smile and responded in kind, but as you were passing through, you felt a calloused hand whip up your skirt and squeeze your rear. Hard.

Before thinking, you whirled around and berated the two of them.

"Are you _kidding_ me?!" You snarled at them both, who stopped in their tracks and turned about to face you again.

"What's the problem?" The blonde questioned, glaring at you mockingly.

"What's the problem? You just _groped_ me! Of course I have a problem with it!"

"Seems to me, sweet cheeks, that if you didn't want to be touched, you shouldn't wear that out in public." The redhead stated, raising his eyebrow at you.

"That _literally_ has nothing to do with it. It doesn't give you any right to touch me!"

The two men spared a glance to each other before inching closer to you. Fear started to eat at your stomach as you felt it drop. You wished you never said anything now. If it was just one, you might have spared a chance, but two on one was a fight you could never win. Your feet started to back up but you refused to turn your back on them.

"Frankly, we don't really give a shit what you think." The blonde said, encroaching on your space now and grinning with malice.

"If I want something, I generally like to take it."

His friend doubled in on his side, blocking you up against the wall of a building. Your eyes starting to pinwheel around looking for an escape route, while a set of hands gripped your wrists and pushed them against the concrete behind you. You felt a thick finger trace over your arms, sending rivers of cold blood through your system. The finger traced over your body with cruel intentions and for once, you finally felt helpless.

You should have just kept quiet...

You almost didn't see it.

A single feather, so dark it was near invisible in the night, drifted down behind the heads of both of your assailants. Something stirred inside of your heart and you wished with all of your might that you were correct. You clamped your eyes shut and tried with all of your might to push back against the hands that held you captive. You writhed and twisted your body in protest at the invasive digit tracing lines over your body, desperate to break free from your situation.

"I think you need to let her go."

A cool voice cut through your cries of protest, enough to break the attention of the two men briefly as they turned their heads in the direction of the voice.

"Eh? What's with you?" The blonde growled, still toying his finger across your body, digging it into one of your soft breasts now.

"Beat it. This has nothing to do with you." He concluded, twisting his finger deeper into your mound, the pressure beginning to hurt now.

You peeked your eyes open and your heart twisted. By some miracle, the shape of Coco cast a shadow over the two men, and despite his cool façade, his eyes were tinted with rage.

"It wasn't a question. Let her go." Coco said simply, placing a hand on a shoulder each and pulling them off of you with surprising ease. They protested and tried to twist around and land a hit on Coco, but he kept them out at arm's length without breaking a sweat.

"What the fuck man? We weren't doing anything!" The blonde yelled.

"What's with the manhandling? We know her! We're messing around!" The redhead protested, before his eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped over onto the pavement in a heap.

"What did you do?!" The blonde crowed, suddenly concerned for the safety of his friend more than his own.

Coco simply stared him down with a steely gaze; enough to make him begin to quake at his knees and sweat begin to bead on his brow.

"I highly doubt you know her. Should I perhaps ask her if she does?"

"I... no. I'll just go."

Coco flashed his signature sweet smile with upturned eyes. His voice, however, dripped with such malice that it almost made the outdoor chill lower into an arctic winter. He didn't shout, just spoke in a low voice that made your blood run colder.

"If I ever see you near her again, I will personally make sure you will regret it. Is that clear?"

The blonde shook on jelly legs and gulped, nodding at the Heavenly King. Coco gripped his shoulder tighter and dug his nails into his skin. The other man cried out in pain before slumping to the ground like his friend. You saw his nails change from a deep purple back to their coral pink hue, before he dragged them into a nearby alley out of view. Your own knees were shaking, but relief was slowly inching its way through your system.

"...hey, Coco." You said meekly, sinking to your knees. Coco rushed over to you and helped you stand up, supporting your weight easily with his arms.

"(Y/n), are you alright?!" He said, sweet concern replacing the anger he once had.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just... had a really bad day."

"Did they hurt you?"

"Just my pride, honestly. Nothing else-"

Coco pulled you into a tight embrace, and you could hear his heart beating a hard drumming against his chest. It wasn't racing, but it was pumping hard. You looped your arms around him and returned his hug, before pulling away gently.

"Coco, I'm okay." You said softly, taking his hand and giving it a light squeeze.

"Really. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't arrived though." Coco averted his eyes from you at your comment.

"It was nothing..." he said, only just above a whisper.

"I have to ask-" You began, slipping your hand out of his and looking up into the sky.

"-are you following me?"

The Heavenly King returned his gaze to yours, and a light trace of fear laced his eyes.

"No, no. No of course not!" He stammered, seemingly tripping over his words.

"I was actually on my way to dinner. Honestly... coming across you was a complete coincidence."

He finally took a proper look at you, letting his eyes travel over your figure and the short little maid uniform nestled over your body. His eyes lingered a little too long on your thighs, where tantalising ruffles swished over your legs with every subtle movement. He pulled his gaze up to break his stare, but they found their rest on the curves of your breasts filling out the crisp white shirt in generous volume. Every inch of you was starting to get a little too overwhelming for him, and he struggled to look you in the eye now. He just wanted a place to look at that would stop his monster of arousal flaring up more than it already was.

"...I'm happy I did come by though... you could have been...hurt."

You let out a sigh and started walking off towards home. The cold was starting to settle on your skin and you were beginning to break out in shivers.

"I really just want to get home." You said, taking small steps away from the Heavenly King and pulling your bag close to you again. Coco started following you and walked beside you.

"I was going to ask if you wanted to come out with me." He said, pulling his cloak off and draping it over your shoulders. You felt the full weight of its fabric now, and it was heavy. You questioned how he wore it every day, but it kept the cold away almost instantaneously. It also smelled of his sweet cologne, and you enjoyed being shrouded in his scent.

"If you're not up to it, I understand."

You pinched the bridge of your nose and thought. You weren't feeling up to a big night, but you didn't want to turn down the opportunity to spend time with Coco.

"Can I get changed first and see how I feel?" You asked, a little embarrassed at your indecisiveness.

"Of course. Dinner isn't far from your home anyway."

"Where were you going?"

"Hotel Gourmet. I like to go in occasionally to have some of Komatsu's food."

"So Komatsu _is_ a chef?"

"Yes, and quite a skilled one too. It's no wonder Toriko decided to partner with him."

"Is he really that good then? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to eat out tonight."

"You're not going to force yourself just because of me, are you?"

"No...don't take this the wrong way, but I've just had the most stressful day with work and then that happened, I really just want to have some hot food and a hard drink of some kind."

Coco raised an eyebrow in your direction.

"I didn't know you drink." He said.

"I don't. Well, very rarely. Just to take the edge off sometimes, you know? I barely do, so I often forget to even bring it up most of the time. I just really need one tonight."

You concluded your last sentence with an airy laugh, and Coco gave the tiniest hint of a smile in your direction. You reached the outer door of your apartment building and pulled out your keys.

"Did you want to come up?" You asked, opening this door much easier than the store front for work.

"If that's okay. I don't want to go up uninvited." You let out a dry laugh.

"Coco, aren't we long past the point of this? You could rock up in the middle of the night for whatever reason and I would still let you in."

"Do you trust me that much?"

"Do I have a reason not to?"

Your quip left the Heavenly King speechless. He had had his doubts about whether or not being around him was a good idea for you. He worried about your safety around him, but it was dawning on him that regardless of his presence, danger was at every step of life. Had he not been around tonight to intervene, he dreaded to think what could have happened to you. It sent a shiver down his spine in disgust.

"No." He replied simply, taking his cloak off of you to take the extra weight off of your shoulders. You appreciated the freedom, but were hit with a wall of cold drenching your body.

Mercifully, the trek up to your home wasn't long and you breathed a sigh of relief when you breezed through the doorway. Coco followed in behind quietly, securing the locks as you traipsed into your bedroom to change. He then busied himself with looking around your apartment again, drinking in the smaller details until he heard a large thud come from your bedroom preceded by a small "ouch."

"Are you okay?" He called out.

"Uhh...Yeah! I'm just...really clumsy!"

Something about your tone was very off, and he inched closer to your bedroom. He knocked on the door and asked to come in.

"I uhh...no, I've got this!...hang...on..."

Laboured breathing floated out from behind. It sounded like you were struggling to move something.

"...I need help." You admitted lamely.

"I'm coming in." Coco said, dropping his cloak onto a small side table by the front door and pushing the bedroom door open slowly.

Your bedroom was quite large, playing host to a queen-sized bed in the middle of its walls. The bed was dressed with a cream ensemble, while ivory curtains were drawn to block in the privacy on a large window to the right. Coco found you struggling to lift a heavy looking walnut dresser that had managed to tip over and spill some of its contents onto the floor. It was mostly clothes, but he couldn't help but spy multiples of your intimate lingerie. A green and black piece caught his eye and he found himself staring at it, unable to look away.

"Can you pick this up for me?" You said meekly, face red with embarrassment.

"Huh? I mean, excuse me?" Coco shook his head out of reverie.

"Umm, could you please lift the dresser back up for me?" You said again, pointing over to it.

"Sure, of course." He said, stepping around the different articles of clothing carefully.

"What happened?" He said, hoisting the dresser back into place easily.

"The drawer sometimes falls off its rail and I pulled it out too far." You said embarrassed, stuffing your arms with as much clothing as you could and throwing them into the bottom of your robe. "It gets top heavy and tips over if that's the case."

"Have you looked into fixing it?"

"I probably should." You admitted, kicking and tossing anything and everything you could see into your robe, stuffing them all ungracefully. "I forget about it honestly."

You turned to snatch up the last pieces of underwear, plucking the green and black bra up and noticing the way Coco's gaze never broke away despite you moving it. You felt a sly voice inside telling you to wear it in front of him, before you shook your head yourself and dampened that idea. Why should you wear it? It's not like he would see it on you at all.

Still, the thought was tempting, and you could always deal with your urges later when you were alone.

It wouldn't be the first time you thought about him during...

"Umm, I kinda need to...get changed." You said softly, hugging the bra close to your chest subconsciously.

Even with the alcohol flush over your cheeks, you felt like you were on cloud nine. Something in the fruit liqueur Komatsu served you lingered subtly for a while and suddenly you were nine glasses deep into whatever it was he was serving you. Much to your detriment, it had a belated effect on your system and you kept helping yourself to another glass just to try and feel the buzz. Unfortunately, your multiple helpings hit you like a wave, and you had effectively drunk yourself into a delirious stupor; something you had wanted to _avoid_.

Because of your drunken state, you weren't exactly refraining from being openly affectionate on your dinner date, who was practically carrying you back up to your apartment. You, however, were enjoying how close you two were, and you looped an arm around his waist and squeezed tightly.

"Coco, you look so good, you know?" You said with a light slur, batting your eyes up at him in an attempt to look sweet.

"Thank you." Coco said simply, giving you a small smile, not entirely sure on how he should react to your brazen compliment.

"No, really. You are _so_ attractive. It's not fair."

"(Y/n), could I have your keys quickly?"

"Oh, umm... lemme grab them."

You clumsily patted yourself down, before thinking of searching in the small bag you decided to take with you. You rummaged in its content, fingers finally plucking the elusive silver from deep within before dropping them into Coco's outstretched hand. He gave you both entry into your home before tucking his arm around your waist again and bringing you inside. Exhaustion rolled over you at the sight of your bed and you flopped down onto it on your back.

"I'll get you a glass of water while you get yourself settled." Coco said, chuckling slightly at the completely uninhibited show you were giving him. He thought it was oddly cute, and appreciated how relaxed you were. He retreated to the kitchen while you lazily attempted to get into comfier clothes.

The room swayed and wobbled lightly and you fell back on to your bed to gather yourself for a moment, leaving you in a state of undress. You kicked your clothes to the side of the room while you sat in your black and green ensemble and took deep breaths to steady yourself.

Coco walked back in, glass in hand, and stopped abruptly. He balked, but couldn't pry his eyes off of you, and the way that the lavish green hugged your curves so effortlessly, and so flatteringly. His hazel eyes drank in the image of you sitting there, half naked, before his instincts finally kicked in for him to turn away; his face crimson as the image of you burned into his eyes.

"What's wrong?" You asked, standing up finally.

"I'm sorry, I walked in on you!" Coco managed to squeeze out, gripping the glass in his hand a little too tightly now.

"Huh? Oh, it's fine." You said, looking down at yourself before waving dismissively.

"Do you not like it?" You asked, your normal filter no longer connecting between your brain and your mouth at this stage.

"I-I'm going to leave this here for you," Coco stuttered, placing the glass of water on your bedside table, still averting his gaze. He could feel his arousal begin to stir and he knew that he wouldn't be able to hide it at all from you if he let it go any further.

"- and I better go. It's late and I-"

"Nooo, don't leave!" You protested, catching his arm and clinging to it. His arm fit snugly in your cleavage, only furthering his embarrassment. You squeezed with all of your drunken might.

"Don't go just yet. I was having fun..." You purred.

"(Y/n), I-I don't think this is the b-best time..." He stammered, looking down at you, and receiving an eyeful of your breasts practically bulging out around his arm. He was flexing his hands in a vain attempt to calm himself down.

It wasn't working.

"Coco, please..." You trawled, tugging him back to try and coax him to sit next to you at the foot of your bed.

"Please don't go. Not yet...let's talk?"

By sheer luck, your pleading coerced his feet to move on their own and he folded himself to sit next to you; his gait rigid and tense and he wasn't entirely sure where to look any more. His hands were balled into fists on his knees and he was staring a hole into the wall.

You saw this as an opportunity to try and calm him down, as you wrapped your fingers over his shoulders; pressing your thumbs and fingers into his muscles and trying to massage out the tension. You crawled up closer to him, your breath ghosting over his skin around his neck; sending a ripple down his back and making his groin twitch with want.

"You're so tight, Coco." You said, really working into his muscles. Your naivety made you oblivious to what you were actually doing to the King, and he started to sweat.

"A-Am I?" He stuttered. Your fingers felt nice, and he was getting urges he had never felt before. An overwhelming sense to take you and hold you and, perhaps, even have his way with you.

"Mm hmm! It must be all of those hunts you go on. Do you ever get tired of them?"

"S-S-Sometimes? But m-my want of good food helps m-m-motivate me."

"There's lots of good things in this world that aren't food, you know."

You planted a small kiss on his neck as you said this. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn't dare to get this close, or even entertain the thought of kissing someone of his calibre, but you weren't thinking; just acting on impulse. You couldn't deny your own arousal beginning to brew, or maybe it was the need to vomit. Either way, it gave you an interesting feeling.

"Like what?"

Coco was gripping his knees and digging his nails into his skin, as much as he could between the flexible fibres of his body suit. He was practically swallowing down all the air in the room, and he swiped his turban off and twisted it in his hands. The cool air in his hair gave an iota of relief, before he felt how much he was sweating at the scalp. You took the opportunity to run your fingers through his tresses, unfazed by the dewy feeling and massaged his scalp. Coco emitted a tiny groan at the sensation.

"Theme parks are good." You listed nonchalantly, before stopping your massaging and throwing your arms around to hug his torso. "So are hugs. And smiles. And kisses!"

You planted a big peck on his cheek before crawling around and throwing a leg over his lap to straddle him. You beamed a smile at his shaking form, oblivious to how wide his eyes were as they locked onto (e/c) eyes.

"Sex is good too. Well, not always, but for the most part it is!"

Coco's eyes pinned around the room and back to your face. Your brash movement caught him in a compromising position, and the longer you sat on his lap, the higher the chance you would feel his erection, which was now at full attention. As much as he would like to act on his wants, he wouldn't be able to. His poison would hurt you in more ways to count, and he wouldn't risk getting that close.

But he _did_ want you. Oh god, he _wanted_ every part of you.

With trembling hands, he picked you up off of him and you giggled, thinking he was starting some fun kind of game.

"(Y/n), I can't..." He said softly, carrying you to the side of your bed and pulling the covers back. He placed you, bridal style, into the sheets before tucking the covers over your form. You pouted at him and tried to grasp at him lamely.

"...can we just cuddle?" You pleaded with little effort. The soft warmth surrounding you was starting to make you drowsy and your eyes were drooping with every passing second.

"I can't do that." He said, softer again, brushing his fingers in your hair with such light tenderness you fell asleep almost instantly. He waited until he could hear your quiet breathing slow into a deep lull before making his way to the doorway. You stirred in your sleep and pulled a spare pillow towards you, wrapping your body around it. He passed a sad smile in your direction and as he pulled the door shut, he heard you mumble quietly in your sleep to the ether:

"I think I love you, Coco."


	16. Chapter 16

Your mouth felt drier than the Gourmet Desert, and a foul taste lingered on the back of your teeth. You stirred and ran your tongue along the inside of your mouth, pulling a bleary-eyed face of disgust. Your head was swimming in grogginess, and even sitting up felt like a huge task. You groaned as your hand flew up to take residence on your forehead.

"What did I do last night?" You thought, squeezing your eyes shut in pain intermittently. Even the filtered sun from behind your ivory curtains was too much for you to handle in long increments. With a struggle, you held your eyes open enough to break through the pain threshold and gauge your surroundings.

This was your bed; the sheets and quilt a rumpled mess around you. You spied your clothes kicked unceremoniously into the corner of your room, presumably at some point last night before you stumbled into bed. You glanced down to see a bright green and black lingerie set wrapped across your form, and you balked at the sight.

_"Did I work again last night?"_

You shook your head at the thought. No, you had quit that career a while ago. So why were you wearing something like that? You only really wore something of the like when you were on the job. Very rarely you indulged and wore it for the sake of feeling good.

You wracked your brain, trying to piece together the events of the previous night through the cloud of haze in your brain, to no avail. It was only then that you realised a hearty smell of savoury food had permeated your sense of smell, making your mouth water at the scent. The bigger question was, who was making that delicious smell?

You dragged your body out of the confines of your bed and found the easiest, comfiest outfit in the pile of clothes you had jammed into your wardrobe last night, pulling a soft sweater on and a pair of pyjama shorts on to cover up with. With a yawn, you creaked your bedroom door open and waddled out into the other room. You blinked in surprise at the form of Coco busying himself in your kitchen, cooking up whatever it was that was making your house smell good.

"Hello?" You said weakly, slumping on the counter and blinking bleary eyed up at him.

"Oh hello. You're finally awake." Coco chirped at you, sending you a smile. "Did you sleep well?"

"I... don't know if I would call it 'well'," You said, running your tongue along your teeth again.

"But my bigger question is; what are you doing here?"

Coco looked up from the skillet he was cooking in, and gave you a quizzical look.

"...you asked me to stay?" He said, shaking the skillet in his hand to stop the food from sticking.

"I did?"

"Do you... do you not remember last night?"

Coco was glancing between you and his cooking, finally deciding that he was finished with whatever it was in the pan.

"I don't remember..." You admitted weakly, starting to feel unease and guilt form in the pit of your stomach.

"Take a seat." Coco said simply, his tone a lot more serious now.

You shuffled to your small dining table and pulled yourself into one of the matching yellowwood seats. You held your head on your hands while Coco brought over the plate of food that he had been organising and some sort of drink.

"(Y/n), has something to eat first. We can talk while you're doing so."

You took a look at the plate in front of you; a myriad of colourful vegetables steamed welcomingly with you and you could see small pieces of a white meat stirred in with it. It smelled delicious, but your stomach made a large turn that made you feel like you were going to be sick. The drink, a clear liquid, had some sort of light carbonation to it and your stomach did the same thing.

"Coco, this looks lovely but I don't think this is proper breakfast food." You said weakly, giving him a sad look.

"It's two-thirty in the afternoon." Coco said simply, making you blanch.

"What? Really?" You said, eyes wide.

"Yes." Coco said with a small laugh.

You groaned and slumped your head back into one hand while picking up a fork with the other. You found the smallest vegetable you could find first and drew it into your mouth. It had a lovely savoury taste, and it made your stomach grumble with want. You picked away at your food, one by one, and felt better with every morsel you ate. Coco simply watched you taking it all before looking out the window at the sunny day outside.

"Why do I feel so much better?" You said, finishing off the last piece on your plate and laying the fork in the middle. "I don't feel disgusting anymore."

Coco drew his eyes back to you and smiled.

"They're Revitalising Veggies." He said, passing one if his trademark soft smiles your way. "They're meant to make you feel better. Make sure you drink, too."

He pointed at the glass in front of you and you complied. You were hesitant at first, but took a hearty gulp. The light bubbles tickled all the way down into the pit of your stomach which made you tingle all over. Suddenly, you felt wide awake and refreshed, like a slap and a splash of icy water had hit you across the face.

"Wow, that's... wow." You said, staring at the glass in your hand before downing the rest quickly.

"How do you feel?" Coco asked, leaning his head on the back of his hand and watching you through his long lashes. You blinked with de ja vu over his pose.

"Better, weirdly enough." You said, sighing with content. "What was that, and where can I get more of it?"

"It's Staminade, but I wouldn't make it a habit to always drink it," Coco chuckled. "Drinking it every day would ruin your sleep pattern."

"Oh." You said, slightly crestfallen. "Tastes pretty good though." You smiled weakly.

"That's true." Coco said, still watching you.

You let out a large yawn, not even bothering to cover your mouth like you normally would. His brow furrowed at the sight.

"Are you feeling okay?" He asked with concern.

"Huh? Yeah, fine now after that...why?"

"You've got something green on your tongue. It looks a little sickly."

"Ah? Something on my-"

You went to stick your finger in your mouth before you realised just exactly what he was on about.

"- oh right. That." You concluded lamely.

"You're acting like it's not a big deal."

You shook your head at him and waved it off with a dismissive hand.

"It's not. Really. I've had it my whole life, really. I guess it's just a little quirkiness?"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. I'm fine, don't worry!"

Despite your attempt to assuage him of any doubt, you couldn't help but dwell on your own uncertainty that had been eating away at you since you woke up.

"Hey, Coco?" You said softly, unable to look at him properly.

"(Y/n)?"

"Did we...um... d-did we-?" You trailed off, trying to collect your thoughts over the thundering of your heart. You had your hands balled into fists in your lap and kept your eyes on them.

"D-did we... do...anything last night?" You croaked, drawing your eyes up to him. Your face burned with a deep fire. You watched as his hazel irises darted away and his own cheeks began to turn crimson, making your heart plummet into your stomach. What if, by some miracle, you had managed to be intimate with the object of your desires, and you couldn't even remember it?

What if it was boring?  
What if it was bad?  
What if _you_ were bad?

Coco squirmed slightly in his chair before answering.

"...no." he said quietly, looking out the window to avoid eye contact with you.

Your heart jumped, but not out of excitement.

"We didn't?" You squeaked, unsure of whether to feel relieved or upset.

"We didn't." Coco responded, a little more bluntly this time.

"Oh..." You breathed.

Coco shifted again. It looked like he was fighting with something inside of himself.

"Did I do something wrong?" You whispered, looking down at your hands, playing with your fingers.

"No, no... It's just..."

Coco fidgeted in his seat more before resting with his elbows on the table with a loud sigh.

"You...You kind of...hinted at it though." He said softly, his face still burning.

"...I did?"

"Mm hmm..."

Silence brewed between the both of you, and the tension followed suit; thick like butter. You twiddled your thumbs over and over and Coco tapped a finger on his elbow. You took a shaky breath.

"D...d-do you w-want to... at all? With me?"

You pushed the sentence out as best as you could, tripping over all of your stutters and jitters. This was hard. You saw the King blanch a little at your words, and his face became a deeper red.

"...it's complicated." He practically whispered.

The word stung your heart. You weren't expecting an answer like that. Hell, you'd even take an outright rejection at this point. But _complicated_?

"What does that _mean_?" You probed.

A beat of silence passed between you both, and Coco struggled to look you in the eye. Something was definitely troubling him now, but you needed some answers.

"It's... I mean..." Coco choked out the words before gripping his head in his hands, defeated.

"...I can't." He whispered, face down to the tabletop.

"That's not the answer for that question." You asked, an edge of irritation cutting your tone.

"Coco, _do_ you? Or _don't_ you?"

Coco let out a large sigh, and ever so slightly nodded his head. Just barely, but you were watching him with such intensity you saw it.

"You do?" You whispered back to him, a flutter of hope twisting up in your stomach.

"Even if I want to, (Y/n)... I can't. I _truly_ can't." He said softly, finally raising his head up at you. He gave a deep sigh before rubbing his temples. "I did the one thing I never wanted to do."

"What do you mean?" You asked, that tiny inkling of hope beginning to dissolve.

"I let myself get too close to you, and put you in a position that would only lead to disappointment."

"Can't... can't we at least try?" You said quietly.

Coco dropped his hands, defeated and gave you a steely gaze. His next words would haunt you from then on.

"I will kill you."

You gulped, trying to force back the tears that threatened to break your threshold. You wanted to speak, to fight for your defence, but his words chilled you to your very core.

"(Y/n), please don't cry." Coco tried to back-peddle and reached out instinctively to touch you. You withdrew from his touch, scraping your chair back from the table too.

"I need some time alone." You said, not looking him in the eye. If you did, you were afraid that it would set the tears flowing again.

"(Y/n), we can talk about this-" Coco started, but you cut him off.

"Talk about _what_ exactly? You keep telling me you can't, so isn't that all there is?"

Coco faltered, but his minute hesitation had your mind settled on a decision. Perhaps you would regret this decision later, but in this moment, you were steadfast in your emotion.

"What could we even _be_?" You asked, frustration biting at your tone. "Really? Truly? Can you tell me?"

Coco tried to swallow a lump forming in his throat. What was happening to him? He hadn't ever felt this feeling before, and his normally aloof disposition had long since left him.

"Isn't…-" He swallowed, withdrawing his hands back on to the tabletop before him.

"Isn't this enough?" He said quietly.

You blinked at him with wide eyes, trying to process just exactly what 'this' was.

"What even are we?" You responded back just as quietly.

"We're…friends, aren't we?"

There was that word again. That horrid, unkind word that struck long past your heart and deep into your very soul. That word, which once gave you such elation at the thought, but no longer held the same pull over you before. You knew, despite all logic and sensibility, that you wanted _more. _You wanted what the world couldn't feasibly give you, but despite all of its signs and universal preventions, you chose to ignore those warnings. Somewhere inside you held this belief that you could defy the odds and turn the situation around.

Except now, the gravitas of reality was catching up with you, and you couldn't face that truth.

"_What in the world made you think that you were so special?"_

"Yeah… friends…" You trailed off, fighting desperately to keep the tears at bay that threatened to roll over your lids. Your voice cracked on the last syllable and your bottom lip began to tremble. You stared a hole into the table, wanting to crawl down into the depths below the earth and lie there for a hundred years.

"(Y/n), please look at me." Coco said, trying desperately in his head not to finish this on tenterhooks.

You shook your head lightly; wisps of your hair floating back and forth around the frame of your face before gently hanging with gravity.

"I think you should go." You breathed; pushing out the hardest sentence you've had to admit for a very long time.

As much as Coco wanted to fight back, he didn't need his future-sight to see that staying would be a terrible decision. All he did was simply nod his head, gathered up the lone setting of dishes and placed them neatly by the sink. In normal circumstances, he wouldn't have dared to leave dirty dishes in someone else's home, but he knew he was overstaying his welcome as it was. Coco looked to your direction, but you were still occupied with tracing your eyes over the pattern in the wood. You hadn't moved an inch. Words teetered on the edge of his tongue, begging to be spoken, but he swallowed them down once more. As his shoes made a soft padding over your wooden floors, he strode over to where his cape lay over the lounge, picked it up silently and made his way to your door. With a sad expression, he made one last attempt at make eye contact with you, but he was left with the image of the soft afternoon light simply haloing off of your (h/c) locks.

One week ticked over into two, which rolled into three.

You hadn't even attempted to make contact with the Soothsayer of any means, and you still weren't going to. It hurt too much to think about him, but even as his smile beamed up at you from behind the glass on your phone, you couldn't find it in you to change the goddamned picture.

Not that anyone would ever see it, really. You had busied yourself with extra shifts at work and proceeded to deep clean your house; painstakingly scrubbing and detail cleaning in some vain effort to wash away the mistakes of your decisions. Your home wasn't large by any means, but you had somehow managed to stretch this chore over nearly twenty-one days' worth of work. The spare toothbrush you were using to scrub the skirting boards, one that you had felt was improperly packaged as 'soft' and was too hard on your gums, looked much worse for wear. Its bristles splayed in all directions and you could swear it was protesting with each moment of scrubbing, although it was more than likely the plastic frame making squeaky contact with sections of panelling. Still, you found yourself resonating with this small tool more and more every day; feeling just about as well as it looked.

It was difficult; trying to forget about someone that you had grown so attached to. Try as you might, you kept finding your thoughts wandering to every small detail about them, and your heart ached severely with every waking moment over it all. His smile, his eyes, the locks of hair that never seemed to fit under the ridge of his turban; _everything_. With every fleeting thought, you scrubbed those bristles between the grout between the bathroom tiles more aggressively, until the pressure finally got to the poor instrument. It finally gave out and the stem snapped in your palm with a harsh flick. You cursed from the sting of the kickback, and you finally slumped over in defeat. Trying to forget Coco was going to be impossible. He was a far too large part of your life now, but you had to come to terms with the fact that there wouldn't be a way for you both to end up together. You sat there, defeated, on the cold bathroom tiles and let some wayward tears roll down your cheeks. At this point, you told yourself that you needed to move on from that idea; even if it did kill you inside.

In the other room, a gentle tinkling sound floated out toward you. With a heavy sigh, you picked yourself up off the floor and traipsed to your phone to turn your alarm off.

Time to go to work.

"Thank you!" You called out to the large group of customers that were retreating out of the door, accommodated with the ringing of the bell above. They waved goodbye as they left and you breathed a hard sigh of relief at the fact they were finally gone. The sheer number of them made them a busy wait service regardless, but they were also _loud_. So loud, you barely had time to think between the furore that they were making and the rest of the customers that were in the store. They ever so _graciously_ left behind a mess for you to clean up; at least that would give you something to do and take your mind off of _him_.

Soapy bucket in hand, you grit your teeth and started scrubbing the table; sticky residue of soda somehow embalming itself into the white laminate while small splotches of cream melted their way into their sticky residue. Without a deep scrub, this would smell to high heaven, and you couldn't quite fathom just _how _adults made such a mess when eating. You would even admit to being a little personally insulted; surely your food was tasty enough to be eaten, and not turned into the latest art project. Regardless; this wasn't going to clean itself, and you scrubbed back and forth with repetition.

"Well, isn't this such common work." A sly voice cooed in your direction.

You stopped scrubbing and looked over your shoulder; directly into the rainbow tresses of one of the other Heavenly Kings.

'Oh, hey Sunny." You said flatly, and promptly returned to your duties. Sunny, on the other hand, took your lackadaisical response with a huff.

"That's all my presence gets?" He chided, crossing his arms over his chest. "Honestly, I'm not sure why I even bothered to venture out then."

"I suppose you were expecting more of a grandiose sort of greeting, but I'm just working. Can I get you something though?"

"Well, that was the point of me coming to this... _quaint_ little spot in the first place." Sunny admitted, glancing his cerulean eyes around the small joint. "But I must say, everything in here is working together quite harmoniously. Even that get up you're in."

You raised an eyebrow at him and said nothing, opting to keep working on your current task.

"Is this seat going to be available soon?" Sunny probed, eyeing off the current table that you were currently scrubbing.

"Well, I hope so-" You faltered, stopping to finally look at him properly. He had on a bright pink ensemble contrasted with navy torso, forearm and shin panels. Looking at his gear screamed "fighter" but its strength wasn't lost in the flamboyant colour palette. It worked oddly well on him with his pastel hair "-although, I could be here for a while. The table in the corner is free though, and it's quite pleasant."

You pointed to the aforementioned seating, but Sunny simply shook his head.

"No, I'm afraid I would decline. This set of tables has a fantastic window view, and the sun is in a simply perfect angle. I truly feel like this one would be the most harmonious spot in the entire place."

You blinked at him and shrugged your shoulders.

"I'll get it cleaned up as fast as I can, if you're happy to wait." You glanced at the nearby clock on the wall. It was late in the afternoon, and most of the large groups would have already came and went for their afternoon snacks.

"I'll keep the tables pushed together. Most groups have already been in today, if that's alright?"

"That's fine. I'll wait aside."

You nodded and went back to cleaning, although your washcloth was beginning quite soiled. You dumped it back into the bucket of water and rinsed it, watching the suds turn a myriad of browns and greys.

"I'll be right back. Just need to get fresh water." You told Sunny, giving him a polite smile and wandering off to change the water. What surprised you the most was that when you returned, Sunny had made himself quite comfortable at the setting, and was looking over the small menu in his hands. He had his chin propped up on the back of his right hand, and a familiar memory flashed behind your vision; someone else did that very same pose. A sting of annoyance flickered in you since you had expected him to wait for the table to be clean-

-except it was. _Sparkling_ clean.

"When did-"

"Oh, I thought I'd help out, so I cleaned it up." Sunny chimed in before you could finish your sentence. "I simply didn't want to wait anymore."

"Oh…" Was all you could say, looking at what once used to be a health code violation waiting to happen. You snapped yourself out of your reverie.

"I mean, thank you Sunny, but you really didn't have to get your hands dirty."

"Tsch! There was no way I'd let my _hands_ get filthy from that mess. It was _far_ too icky!" Sunny made a pompous gesture and turned his nose up.

"Then how-"

"Surely you haven't forgotten about my little secret?" Sunny interrupted you again, and ran a hand through his hair.

'I'm sorry. I did." You apologised, giving an exasperated sigh. "Although, I would have thought that you wouldn't want to get anything in your hair instead of your hands? At least I wouldn't."

"While that's true for most people, I hardly felt it at all. Besides, I'm very interested in getting a nice cup of tea at this point. Can we continue?"

'Oh, of course." You said, putting the bucket of fresh water down and pulling a notepad from a pocket on your apron and pen. Sunny picked out a sweet chai and a savoury pastry to try, before pointing your attention to the table in the corner.

"I used some napkins. I hope you don't mind." He said with a wave of his hand.

By '_some_' he meant '_many_', and a small pile of wayward napkins sat sadly on the corner that Sunny seemed to despise so intently. At least they were together so you could grab them easily.

'Thanks Sunny, I'll be back soon with your order." You said, and started collecting up your utensils. The Heavenly King gave you a pleasant smile and nodded, before gazing out of the window in his own thoughts.

Soon, a floral pink teacup sat steaming on its matching saucer while you fussed about plating up his food when the bell above the door tinkled again, this time heavy footsteps followed suit before a loud voice cut through your concentration.

'Hey! Sunny!"

"Oh, I _knew_ that had to be you." Sunny's voice said with exasperation.

"Ah? What kind of greeting is that?" The second voice said, almost childlike before you listened to those same heavy footfalls walk across the floor and scrape a chair back.

"Um, _excuse me?_" Sunny's voice chided to the second guest. "I didn't say you could sit with me, Toriko!"

Ah. That's why you recognised that voice.

"Come on Sunny, lighten up." Toriko said, before you heard a dense thud that made you finally look over. The orange-clad visitor had just dropped a giant leg of ham onto the table that Sunny had cleaned for himself.

"Just _how_ exactly am I meant to lighten up when you're disturbing all of my harmony!" Sunny bickered, his usually cool demeanour vanishing into a sibling spat. "Absolutely no respect for anyone's personal space."

"Oh, hey (Y/n)!" Toriko called and waved at you, ignoring the rant his pastel-haired brother was now lecturing him on.

"Hi Toriko." You waved back, before collecting the tray with Sunny's order and bringing it over to the table.

"I didn't know you worked here." Toriko said, as you delegated out Sunny's food and drink around the hunk of meat now resting on the laminate. "I thought you worked with books?"

The tiniest amount of blush flared up on your cheeks. You didn't expect him to remember your little lie from your first meeting with him.

"I did…" You stammered lightly before forcing a smile in their direction. "I guess I just wanted a little change. Besides, what better thing to be involved in than food in the Gourmet Age, right?"

"Certainly no better time than now." Sunny agreed, flashing you a warm smile while looking at you through his sharp cerulean eyes. "Thank you for the food, it smells delicious."

"Oh, that's okay Sunny. I appreciate you coming to visit."

"If only this oaf hadn't dampened my experience." Sunny griped into his teacup while giving Toriko a cold glare.

"Dude, I just wanted to come and grab something to eat, and this was the first place I came into." Toriko retorted.

"What the heck is _this_ for then?" Sunny complained, setting his teacup down roughly and gesturing to the leg ham.

"A snack." Toriko said with a grin.

"Then _why_ come here?! You've got food!"

"I wanted something sweet too."

You watched the grown men bicker back and forth between them before their loud outbursts were getting on your nerves.

"_Stop!" _You cried out forcing them both to pause like a record-scratch. " I'll get you something Toriko, but can you both please just keep it down a bit? You're scare off any potential customers."

The two of them nodded and apologised, and you made your way back behind the counter to gather something else. Finally, the two Kings were exchanging pleasant talk between themselves before a gruff voice you instantly recognised blared into your eardrums out of nowhere.

"**You two better not be talkin' shit about me anymore!**"

Oh great. Exactly what you needed right now.

"Zebra?!" Both of the Kings said in unison before the front door slammed open roughly, causing the bell to rattle a dull sound instead of its gentle tinkle. A third, muscular form stood in the doorway glowering down at the other two before Zebra stomped over to the table.

"**Get out of my seat. I'm hungry.**" Zebra ordered, but both just blinked at him. Sunny went back to sipping his tea while Toriko just grinned at him.

"Zebra! How've you been? We were just talking about you!" he said, waving casually at him.

"_**I heard!**_" Zebra growled, putting a hand on Sunny's shoulder and gripped it forcefully. "**I also said to get out of my seat. You wanna fight?!**"

"Buzz off, you brute." Sunny said dismissively before swatting Zebra's hand off of him. "I was here first."

"**I don't care. This is where I want to be**_**.**_" Zebra growled again before picking up the thick leg of ham off the table and taking a large bite out of it.

"Hey, that's _mine_!" Toriko yelled and stood up, attempting to pull it away from the taller one. Zebra put his hand over Toriko's face and held him at bay, gloating while continuing to chow down on the hunk of meat. You had barely even blinked before watching it be swallowed down by the fuchsia-haired hunter. With an evil grin, he dropped the bone back onto the table and belched while Toriko pouted at him and resigned himself back to his seat.

"Fine. I'll just wait for whatever (Y/n) brings out to me." Said the blue-haired one.

At this point, you had gathered up the largest serving tray you could find and were stacking the rest of the desserts in the show window onto it. Zebra's arrival generally meant that you were about to be cleaned out of stock, so rather than wasting time and bringing them out individually, bringing it all over in one trip made the most sense.

"Excuse me, but she's my server. I was the one that came here first." Sunny retorted.

"So? She's bringing my food over, so she's mine too." Toriko responded, starting to get annoyed.

"**She's **_**mine, so you both need to get lost so I can eat.**__"_

"Eh? Since when has she ever been yours?" Toriko asked Zebra, aggression rising up again.

You had had enough. Today was long, exhausting and listening to this schoolyard fight was beyond irritating. You had tried to keep your composure, but something inside if you snapped. You were done. Stressed. Over it all. The three of them were arguing amongst themselves and getting louder and louder. With tray in hands, you marched over to the table and dropped it with a heavy clang. All eyes locked onto you while you fumed.

"Listen," You said, in a low voice. "You're in _my_ cafe, and you need to either sit down and eat, or you can leave. All of you."

You knew your face was red, but you didn't care. Your frame, so easily dwarfed by these muscular beings, stood defensively in front of them while your hands balled into fists. Every delicate ruffle of your cafe maid uniform seemed to be ever more prominent right now, but you had reached your breaking point.

'Let's get one thing absolutely certain, while I'm at it." You said, rage and frustration bubbling up through your entire being.

"I don't belong to _any one _of you. Not one. Understood?" You locked to each individual pair of eyes in front of you.

"Not you, Sunny. Not you Toriko. Not you Zebra-"

You took a deep breath but you could feel the hot sting of tears trying to break through.

"-and _especially_ not Coco. Got it?"

Silence brewed between the four of you for an uncomfortable length of time. It was only broken by Zebra grabbing one of the vacant seats by the table and scraping it back, before dropping himself heavily into it. Without a word, he grabbed a pastry in hand and shoved it into his mouth and chewed, before following suit with a second one. Toriko also copied this action and Sunny busied himself with his own order. You nodded before turning your back on their table and leaving them to watch your retreating back, thankful that the storeroom wasn't too far away; a single tear had finally rolled over onto your cheek with others soon to follow.


	17. Chapter 17

Solitude wasn't as comforting to Coco as it once was. In fact, loneliness began to creep in his feelings with every passing day. He had tried to distract himself with his own chores and hobbies, but a feeling of emptiness kept sticking in his chest. Nothing felt as good as it should; nothing felt _right_ any more. So there he was, slumped over on his kitchen table with his head in his hand and wallowing in these unknown feelings. He knew the cause of it all, and every memory of you that crept its way into his mind twisted a knot of guilt in his stomach; thoughts of you always the ones to bid him goodnight and returned to greet him in the morning.

Coco missed you.

He contemplated going back into Gourmet Fortune to work in the shop, but every day he found himself wanting to stay at home; even if home was making him feel like a prisoner. Having to put on a brave face to the public and look into their future relationship was something he didn't have the heart for right now. It had become a tedious part of the job a long time ago, but it's what the people wanted from him, so he delivered. Now the thought just made him feel unwell.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair, trying to muster the motivation to do something, _anything_. Exercising, cooking, training… nothing gave him that spark of energy that he pushed himself with. All in all, the Heavenly King felt numb to anything that wasn't related to you, and the guilt of laziness was starting to intertwine with his depression.

Kiss poked his beak in and nudged Coco aside, trying to prompt him to get up. Even the Emperor Crow knew that something was amiss with his friend and master, and he was doing his best to comfort him. Coco pet the beak idly and tipped his head back to look at Kiss.

"Sorry Kiss, I'm not feeling the best these days." Coco admitted to his partner, and was replied with a quiet caw.

Kiss suddenly pulled his beak out of the window and let out a cry as the ground rumbled underfoot.

"_Krryyaaahh!"_

"_Raarf!"_

Coco pulled himself out of his chair and exited through the front door, only to come face to face with Terry's steely gaze. Toriko called out from behind the Battle Wolf's ears.

"Hey Coco!"

Coco put on a smile and waved. He didn't particularly want company, but a part of him was thankful for the drop in.

"Hello Toriko, hello Terry."

Terry let out a light bark as Toriko jumped down from his mount and gave the wolf a pat on the snout.

"Thought I'd drop by, if that's alright?" Toriko said, clapping a hand on Coco's shoulder heartily. "It's been a while."

"Come in."

Coco pushed the front door open to let his guest in before pulling it shut, leaving the two beasts to interact with one another outside.

"What brings you out here Toriko?" Coco asked, busying himself with finding two mugs and boiling a small kettle for tea. "Did you need my help with something?"

"Nah, nothing like that this time," Toriko said, pulling out a chair for himself and dropping into it casually.

"Although I have heard there's some good food being listed for the upcoming summer festival in town. I'll probably get hired as some muscle to capture ingredients if you're interested in joining."

"Maybe, I'll see what I'm doing then." Coco responded nonchalantly, waiting as the water boiled.

Toriko sat there, looking around the room, trying to think of a conversation. Coco leaned on the kitchen counter with his arms folded, all but staring at his azure-headed family member. Silence built between them like the kettle water on the element.

Toriko let out a small cough and opened his mouth to say something, but closed it and started tapping his foot on the floor. Coco's eyes picked up every little action.

"Is that all you came to talk to me about?" He asked, throwing Toriko for a loop. Suddenly his younger kin was making an unusually embarrassed face and grinned out of discomfort.

"Well, not exactly..." Toriko started, twiddling his thumbs and becoming oddly fixated with a spot on the wall.

"...I, uh...came to talk about something else, actually." He admitted, throwing Coco a weak smile as he winced.

"What's going on?" Coco asked.

The kettle on the element was making a soft whistle.

"I... Well, I came to talk about... about...-"

"-About what, Toriko?" Coco pressed, starting to get irritated at how long this was taking.

Toriko sighed in defeat and dropped his hands between his lap.

"I came to talk about girls." He said with resignation.

The kettle whistled indignantly as tension grew between them both. Coco just blinked in surprise before turning his back to Toriko without a word. He took the kettle off of the element and put it aside on the counter. Instead of pouring the hot water into the cups he had prepared, Coco exited to the lounge room, leaving a very confused and embarrassed Toriko at the kitchen table. Coco's soft shoes announced his return, and in his hand was a large bottle of whiskey.

Neither of these two knew how to approach this subject.

Coco pulled two small drinking glasses and set them down on the table as he slid into the opposite seat across the table. Toriko eyed off the brown bottle and grinned a little more honestly at the sight of it.

"I guess this is the hard stuff?" He asked, pulling himself around to face Coco completely.

"It's some of it." Coco said, pouring the rich liquid between the two glasses and sliding one over the table with his middle fingers. "Although, I didn't expect to have to need to use it. I'm surprised."

That much was true, but this was one of the last things he wanted to be talking about right now.

"So you've been sitting on this one for this kind of conversation? That's interesting." Toriko said, sipping at the deep amber fluid; a smooth smokey flavour rolled over his tastebuds and down his throat, leaving a warm trail through his body.

"Interesting, how?" Coco asked, swirling his drink softly before sipping it as well.

"I guess I never anticipated us ever getting to this point." Toriko admitted, giving that timid smile again.

"I felt it best to be prepared." Coco said, setting his glass down and tenting his fingers before locking his eyes on Toriko.

"Alright, what did you want to start with? Is it about Rin?"

Toriko downed his drink, avoiding eye contact with his older brother.

"Not exactly…-" he started, playing with his glass in his large hand.

"-Someone else?" Coco interjected, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, technically," Toriko rubbed the back of his neck before finally making eye contact with the poison King.

"I'm actually here to talk about (Y/n)."

Coco's stomach flipped at the mention of your name, and he became defensive. Was Toriko about to tell him he had feelings for you?

"What about (Y/n)? Is she alright?"

Toriko waved both of his hands in front of him.

"Yeah bro, she's fine! Well, physically I mean. I gotta ask though…"

He placed both of his palms on the table carefully.

"What happened with you and her?"

Coco blinked and furrowed his brow.

"What do you mean? Nothing happened." Coco said dismissively.

"That's kind of the point I'm getting at. I thought you both were, y'know, a thing?"

Coco just blinked as he stared.

"...What gave you that idea?" he said slowly, fidgeting with his glass.

"I dunno, you guys just have a...thing?" Toriko said, looking away again and running his hand through his hair.

"No." Coco said, taking another sip of his whiskey.

"Not at all."

Toriko helped himself to the bottle, pouring himself another glass.

"Then I don't think she got the memo. Maybe. She seems pretty cut up about something then."

Toriko gestured to top Coco's glass up but he declined, placing his hand over the glass wordlessly.

"So your first thought was that I did something then?" Coco retorted, anger started to bite at his tone.

"I don't want to word it like that, but _did_ you?"

"No! What could I possibly do?!"

"Hey, hey, calm down; I'm just trying to get the pieces together."

Coco took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose.

"We weren't ever a 'thing', as you so put it. You of all people should know I couldn't be someone's partner, Toriko."

"That aside, I gotta ask…"

Toriko picked up his drink and looked squarely into Coco's eyes; his cat-like eyes almost making Coco feel like he was trapped.

"...do you like her, though? You know, in that way?"

Coco's jaw pinched under Toriko's gaze, and he downed his drink while still keeping eye contact. Coco was normally one to savour a nice drink, but even his own discomfort was getting the better of him. He let out a puff of air after his mouthful and slumped in his seat.

What was the point of lying to him?

"...Yes."

"Coco, that's _awesome_!." Toriko grinned, trying to celebrate his admission.

"Toriko, be realistic," Coco sighed, his disposition changing to reflect the heartache that he was currently dealing with.

"I can't be with (Y/n). I'll just end up hurting her with my poison if I tried to...get close with her."

Toriko rubbed his chin and was thinking hard over something.

"I'm not so sure," he said, his eyes looking upward while still stroking his chin.

"I think there's something about her."

Coco took a brief moment and shut his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

"This isn't going to be one of those 'you're made for each other' spiels, is it?" He said wearily. He definitely wasn't in the mood to discuss his trainwreck of a non-existent love life.

"Kind of?" Toriko admitted, before leaning back in his chair and crossing a leg onto his other knee.

"Just hear me out; you know how your poison kind of stinks, right?"

"Excuse me?!"

"Not like that! What I mean is that it has a pretty strong scent. At least to me."

Toriko tapped the side of his nose and grinned.

"You remember those training sessions the old man made us do when we were younger? With all four of us?"

"The glorified hide and seek sessions, you mean?" Coco propped his chin up with one hand and listened.

"Yeah, you know the ones! I was always finding you first because I could smell you. Well, the poison in you."

"Oh, that's how you did it." Coco said, a hint of surprise in his voice. Now that he thought about it, even if he thought his hiding spot was good, young Toriko did find him first.

"Yeah my bad. I never told you because I didn't want you to feel bad." Toriko said, taking another sip of his drink.

"So you tell me now? Thanks." Coco said bitterly.

"Look, _you _personally smell pretty good. There's just always this... I dunno, sour undertone I can detect on you. It's not like anyone else can."

"Toriko, what's your point with all of this?" Coco asked with exasperation, leaning his head on his hand now.

"Oh right. Well, when you're near (Y/n), I can't smell it. Or barely. She has her own scent too."

"So you're telling me that she stinks too?"

Toriko let out his own exasperated sigh.

"I'm sorry I used the wrong word! But for lack of a better term, she has her own on that is weirdly compatible with yours. When you've been in contact with her, it negates yours."

Coco blinked and starting to think, running a finger on his other hand around the room of his glass idly.

"Is that true?" He asked quietly, not making eye contact.

"Yeah bro, why else would I say it?"

"That's fair."

Coco continued to run his finger around the edge of the glass, lost in his own thoughts. The moisture on his skin started making the glass whir softly. A lot of what Toriko said seemed to hold a lot of merit. After all, he was the only one that could possibly detect something like that, with how powerful his nose is.

"Sunny also said something too," Toriko said, scratching under his eye over his scars.

"Now _Sunny's _in on it?" Coco asked wearily. "What have you all been doing, having meetings about this?"

"Of course not. We all just happened to be there when (Y/n) said something."

"All?"

"Zebra included."

"_Zebra?!_ What was _he_ doing there?!"

"Eating, like he normally does. He does practically every week; sometimes multiple times."

Coco's blood ran hot, and he felt an unusual flash of jealousy. Zebra was his own challenge in himself, and if he even entertained the idea of wanting something, he'd stop at nothing to get it. This included people, after attempting to poach Komatsu from Toriko as his partner.

"Is that so?"

"It's not a big deal."

"To _you _maybe, but try to understand where I'm coming from."

Toriko ran his hand through his hair again and opted to just fill up Coco's glass again.

"My point is, I think she could possibly be a match for you. Has there been anything else that's been out of the ordinary? Sunny openly admitted to not wanting to touch her either. Said something about the way it feels reminds him of touching you."

Of course there were things that Coco hadn't wrapped his head around. He still remembered the way your tears stained his chest pale, why you could touch his bare skin without feeling sick; even after being in contact with some of his most potent poison...

Those odd smudges on your tongue.

_Where had he seen those before?_

"Do you think it could be Gourmet Cells?" Coco asked, finally raising his head as his mind swam with thoughts. These thoughts were filled with memories of his research, and something was nagging at him; like he was missing the final piece to a puzzle that he just had in his hands.

"It's possible. It's rare, but some people can just be born with them."

Coco rose from his chair and ventured off into the lounge once more, abandoning the drink on the table without a second thought. He stood in front of the bookshelf in the far corner of the room, eyes scanning over the hundreds of titles he had collected that chronicled the history of poisons and poisonous food found throughout the Gourmet Age. Shelved by age, edition and alphabetical order, in these pages was the answer that he was searching for. The bigger question: _where_?

Toriko scraped back his chair and poked his head into the room, swilling his drink in his hand and letting out another grin.

"I've seen that look before." He grinned, feeling a sense of relief that the poison King was acting more like himself.

"Guess you've struck a chord somewhere?"

"I've seen something in here that might compliment your thoughts." Coco said, pulling a small black book off the shelf and flicking through the pages. Not this one. "I just don't know which one it is."

"I'm sure you'll find it. I'm gonna head off and leave you to it then."

Toriko downed the rest of his drink and eyed off Coco's forgotten glass.

"Hey Coco-"

"You can have it." Coco said, without looking up from the next book. Not this one either. He reshelved it with a small sigh before trailing his finger by the spines, looking for his next target. Toriko's grin grew wider and he downed the second glass in one gulp, closing his eyes as the whiskey burned a hot trail into his stomach.

"Mmm, so good!" The glutton exclaimed as he set the glass back down on the table next to his.

"Hey uh, Coco?" Toriko pressed again.

"Yes?"

"I hope this works out for you. Really."

There was such sincerity in the way Toriko dropped that last sentence. As much of a clown Toriko could be, when he was genuine, it rang true. It was enough for Coco to pull himself away from his books and make eye contact with him. Coco's lips pulled into a smile; something he hadn't done for a long time.

"Thanks for dropping in… It helped."

"Not a problem! But uhh, before I go; you're all good with...y'know-"

Toriko pushed his index finger in and out of a small circle he made with the index finger and thumb on his other hand. Coco's face burned red and he scowled at his younger brother.

"Get out." He said, malice dripping through his voice.

"_Okay, okay_! See ya!"

Toriko hightailed it out of the house and jumped up effortlessly onto Terry's back, and the two of them leaped across the ravine, running out into the grassy fields, Kiss' yellow eyes watched them intently before he let out a caw and began grooming his feathers.

Coco, with a newfound vigour and a heated flush across his cheeks, started poring into his texts, trying to find traces of information that might help him connect the dots about the mystery of you. If what Toriko said was true, then perhaps there was a slim chance that maybe, just maybe, the two of you could be more than the mess he had made. If that was the case, then all of those years of loneliness and solitude could be made accountable.

It was almost dawn of the new day, and books were scattered everywhere across the living room floor. Piles of books on one end that pertained to some sort of information, even just a throw-away sentence, of people that held the cure for toxins within their systems. Mostly legends, but legends were born out of stories of truth.

A lantern burned low and weak, as the morning rays broke through the house's defences; casting elements of golden streaks across the shadows of nightfall. Coco's eyes drooped and ached after staying up all night reading, searching for every piece of information he could scour. Yet, he still couldn't shake the feeling that he _had_ concrete information pertaining to that strange discolouration he witnessed within you, and he was frustrated. It was so close, he could feel it; even _taste_ the success.

There was only one book left. The one you gave him.

Coco sighed and let out a large yawn. If this wasn't it, then he would chalk it up to imagining the whole thing; blaming his desperation into fabricating an out for his desires. He pawed through the pages, much slower than normal due to his fatigue, as his hazel eyes darted left and right, drinking in the words. The pages each made a soft '_fwip_' with every turn, and the sun rose with every passing moment, and like a halo of inspiration, a beam of gold shone down over his face.

He found it. He finally found it.

It wasn't much, but there was even a diagram sketched into the book that detailed the exact same symptom you exhibited. Coco shook the book with triumph and he cried out in relief, repeating 'yes' over and over again; he smiled so wide that it almost hurt. Hope filled his heart where that pit of dread and heartache had filled it over the last few weeks.

Perhaps he _could_ have his happy ending.


End file.
